The army has underutilized virtual and augmented-reality combat simulators meant to expand training and reduce costs, the National Audit Office said in its latest budget report.
Writing in a report as part of the government’s general budget, the office said that the army had 487 simulators, but many were underutilized or had been used inefficiently.
The Ministry of National Defense had justified the procurement of simulation devices by citing a need to improve weapons training without costly expenditures in ammunition and equipment wear and tear, the report said.
The army installed a number of tank simulators at the Northern Joint Simulation and Training Center and the Armor Training Command, both in Hsinchu County, it said.
The simulators were used 12 times for a total of 48 hours from 2018 to last year, it said.
The army’s two combat stress inoculation facilities and two adventure centers were utilized by military academies, as well as for examinations and testing, but not for the cited reason for their creation, which was training reserve units, the report said.
The Reserve Mobilization Leadership Training Center in New Taipei City has a 25m range for small arms marksmanship that cannot be used for rifle certification, which requires shooting targets at 175m, it said.
This has hindered advanced marksmanship training at the facility, requiring range officers to find ways to make up for the limitations of the facility, which could otherwise be augmented with the use of simulators, the report said.
The ministry has been notified that training resources must be utilized and units that lack access to simulators should be allowed to use those stationed with other units, it said.
Training standards for reservists need to be improved urgently, it added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS