The Ministry of National Defense is to build a new automated production line with a NT$14 billion (US$431.23 million) budget to meet increasing demand for 155mm artillery shells, a source said yesterday.
The Russia-Ukraine war has created a defense demand that has galvanized many Western nations as well as Ukraine into restarting or building 155mm artillery shell production lines, while the US last year proposed bilateral cooperation in manufacturing such shells.
A government source with knowledge of the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, yesterday said that the ministry has planned a budget of NT$14 billion to construct a new automated production line at Factory 202 of the Armaments Bureau to produce 155mm shells.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-tse, Taipei Times
Part of the budget would also be used to optimize existing shell production lines to boost production capacity, he said.
Factory 202 has already been manufacturing 155mm shells, but its capacity was not fully utilized as the artillery batteries of the army and the marine corps did not frequently conduct live-fire drills and did not consume much of the ammunition, the source said.
However, a new automated production line is required and existing facilities must be enhanced, as demand is expected to surge after the US-Taiwan manufacturing cooperation agreement begins, he said.
If the proposal is passed by both the Executive Yuan and the legislature, it is projected to be a five-year project that runs from next year through 2030 with a budget of about NT$14 billion, the source said.
The new production line would prioritize the manufacturing of 155mm shells and aid the production of 120mm shells for M1A2T tanks, he said.
It would also be used to help meet increasing demand for M230 chain gun shells, the source said.
The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on April 17 visited Factory 202 along with Lieutenant General Yang Chi-jung (楊基榮) to learn more about the ammunition production process and the ministry’s production capacity planning, he said.
During the visit, committee convener Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said that more on-site inspections would be arranged to help the legislature understand the development of the national defense industry.
Ammunition production capacity underlies the maintenance of overall combat power, he said, adding that he expects the committee to help the ministry boost combat readiness and the defense industry’s resilience.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS