The armed forces on Thursday unveiled a next-generation assault rifle developed by the Armament Bureau’s 205th Armory.
The gold-plated model XT-105 rifle displayed at a press event in Kaohsiung was the first off the production line. The 205th Armory started developing the weapon in 2012.
The rifle is designed to meet the stringent tactical requirements of modern urban warfare, counterterrorism and close quarters combat, the armory said.
Photo: CNA
Dubbed a multiutilization special rifle (MSR), the 5.56mm by 45mm weapon is designed for versatility and can be fitted with barrels of three different lengths — 300mm, 360mm and 450mm.
It can also be outfitted with attachments, sights and optical scopes without the need for additional gun mounts and railing systems.
The weapon ejects spent shells forward to the right so there is no danger of burns to the operator.
The next-generation weapon features high accuracy and low recoil, an ambidextrous design and a collapsible stock for easy handling.
The weapon also forgoes the three-round burst firing mode, allowing for a more manageable fully automatic mode at a lower rate of fire.
Although the 205th Armory declined to give details, it said it may consider export of the X105, which can be customized to buyers’ needs.
The 205th Armory also showcased the XT-104, a 9mm sub-machine gun with low recoil that can be easily operated, even by novices; the K1 pistol with a laser-guided sight; and a close quarters combat version of the armed forces’ mainstay T-91 rifle, with a shorter barrel.
The 205th Armory traces its roots to the Qing Dynasty, when it was known as the Suzhou Western Artillery Bureau under imperial rule.
It moved to Kaohsiung as part of the retreat to Taiwan in 1949 after the Nationalists were defeated by Chinese Communist forces in the Chinese Civil War.
Since then, the 205th Armory has developed a number of weapons for the armed forces, including the T65 and T91 assault rifles, the T-75 20mm cannon, and various other small arms.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS