A delayed expansion project of a tank shooting range in northern Taiwan would be completed in stages to allow test firing sessions to continue, the army said yesterday.
The nation’s army currently has about 1,000 tanks, including aging CM-11 Brave Tiger and M60A3 battle tanks, which have been in use for more than two decades.
To gradually replace these older models, the army has allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.26 billion) from 2019 to 2027 to purchase 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks from the US, which are expected to be assigned to the Sixth Army Corps responsible for guarding northern Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
Of the 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, 38 are scheduled to be delivered next year, 42 in 2025 and 28 in 2026.
In preparation for the arrival of M1A2T Abrams tanks, the army also embarked on a NT$1.19 billion upgrade of a tank proving ground in Kengzihkou (坑子口) area in Hsinchu County’s Sinfeng Township (新豐).
The Hsinchu testing facilities include one of the army’s most used firing ranges for tanks.
The upgraded training center would feature a state-of-the-art multi-use shooting range facility to enable M1A2T Abrams tanks to practice firing at night and while moving, according to the most recent budget proposal submitted by the army to the Legislative Yuan.
However, the upgrade, originally scheduled to be finished by the end of this year, is facing delays and is not expected to be ready before 2026, the proposal said.
The delays mean the expansion project would not be completed by the time the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams tanks are delivered to Taipei next year, with some experts saying that it could jeopardize firing drills for the tanks.
The army said yesterday that it has asked the construction company responsible to do the upgrades in different stages so that tank training would be able to continue despite the ongoing construction work.
The upgrades would also include building new target platforms and targets that could go up and down automatically, an unnamed army source said.
The range between a tank and its target would also be extended to 1,800m from the existing 1,340m, the source added.
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