Taiwan and the US plan to jointly produce 155mm artillery shells, as the munition is in high demand due to the Ukraine-Russia war and should be useful in Taiwan’s self-defense, Armaments Bureau Director-General Lieutenant General Lin Wen-hsiang (林文祥) told lawmakers in Taipei yesterday.
Lin was responding to questions about Taiwan’s partnership with allies in producing munitions at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Given the intense demand for 155mm artillery shells in Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, and in light of Taiwan’s own defensive needs, Taipei and Washington plan to jointly produce 155mm shells, said Lin, head of the bureau responsible for arms procurement and weapons development.
Photo: Reuters
If the cooperation is successful, it could be expanded to other types of munitions, he said, adding that he could not provide further details due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Taiwan and its closest arms provider, the US, have been in talks to coproduce munitions and weapons systems for several years.
During a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing last year, then-nominee for US deputy undersecretary of defense for policy Alexander Velez-Green told senators that joint weapons production should focus on projects that are less complex and within Taiwan’s existing capabilities.
“Appropriate coproduction or similar opportunities should focus on less technically complex capabilities for which Taiwan has existing workforce and production infrastructure,” he said during the meeting on Nov. 6.
At the same legislative meeting, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) defended the ministry’s decision to purchase munitions overseas, saying that domestically made ammunition is not necessarily cheaper than those purchased internationally.
Lin added that in the case of M855 rounds procured by Taiwan — a NATO standard 5.56x45mm round used by Taiwan’s infantry rifles and light machine guns — the domestic production cost is NT$16.18 (US$0.51) per round (with a budgeted amount of NT$18.86), while the winning bid price for foreign procurement is NT$15.53.
The bid price is lower than the NT$16.18 approved by the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Logistics, Lin added.
Koo said the defense ministry purchases shells and munitions — including, most recently, US-made M855 rounds — because demand has increased after Taiwan extended compulsory military service to one year from the previous four months, and stepped up the frequency of reservist training and live-fire exercises.
The military fired 23.4 million rounds of ammunition in 2021, while by last year the figure had more than doubled to 58.81 million rounds, Koo said.
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