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.
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