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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS