Eighty-four military personnel who have been trained in the US to operate the M1A2T Abrams tanks are slated to return to Taiwan in November to become instructors in the training next year, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in its budget report to the Legislative Yuan.
The 84 people were sent to the US for a 350-day training after Taiwan procured 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, with the first batch of 38 tanks scheduled to arrive by the end of this year.
Instructors would administer the educational training in February next year and compile the training’s guidelines and curriculums, the ministry said.
Photo: Reuters
The procurement of M1A2T battle tanks, which cost about NT$40.5 billion (US$1.27 billion), was intended to bolster the nation’s defense capabilities in northern Taiwan.
The addition of M1A2T battle tanks to the military’s armored vehicle fleet would greatly enhance its protective power, mobility and combat efficiency, the ministry said.
The MND is reconstructing facilities in Hsinchu County’s Changan (長安) and Kengzikou (坑子口) areas for training on M1A2T battle tanks.
In other news, the MND said it is to test the 6.8mm-caliber rifles developed by the Armament Bureau by the end of the year.
The bureau last year developed the rifle as part of the US military’s “Next Generation Squad Weapons” program, and 10 of such rifles would be handed over to the armed forces to be tested by the end of the year, a military source said on Saturday.
Specifications of the new rifle have not been made public. The program was created by the US Army in 2017 to develop small arms fire-control systems with a 6.8mm cartridge to replace the 5.56mm M4 carbine, M249 SAW light machine guns and 7.62mm M240 machine guns.
The Taiwanese military follows NATO standards and uses 5.56x45mm bullets for T91 and T112 assault rifles, 7.62mm bullets for light sniper rifles and 12.7 mm bullets for heavy sniper rifles and machine guns.
The caliber of a firearm is directly proportional to its power and shooting range. However a rifle with greater caliber adds to the weight that military personnel must bear and therefore limits their mobility.
According to the US Army, a 6.8mm-caliber rifle weighs about 3.7kg and can accommodate 20 bullets in the cartridge, the army told the Legislative Yuan in a written report earlier this month.
By contrast, a T91 assault rifle weighs 3kg and can contain 30 rounds, the report said.
The ministry has budgeted about NT$8.1 billion from this year to 2029 to procure XTS112 assault rifles, an upgrade from T112 rifles, the report showed.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Thursday said that the ministry plans to procure 86,114 XTS 112 assault rifles to be used by the army, the military police and the reserve forces.
They would be given optical sights, internal reflector sights and laser sights to be added to the rifles based on their respective tasks, he said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS