The US is to deliver all 14 M-136 Volcano automated mine delivery systems ordered by Taiwan in 2026, instead of sending seven systems last year and seven more two years from now as originally planned, a defense official said yesterday.
Taiwan inked a NT$4.9 billion (US$153 million) contract with the US for the minelayers and related logistical items to be implemented between 2022 and 2029, according to the Ministry of National Defense’s budgetary records.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the defense official said “delays in the US and various other factors” were to blame for the setback, but did not speculate about whether more delays should be expected.
Photo: screen grab from the US Army Reserve Web site
“The government is communicating closely with the US,” they said.
The M-136 Volcano automated mine delivery system, a mobile mine launcher mounted on a M977A4 HEMTT 10-tonne cargo truck, is used for rapidly deploying anti-tank and anti-personnel mines over a wide area.
The vehicles are designated for combat engineer groups in the 6th, 8th and 10th Army Corps to defend Taiwan proper, the documents showed.
Taiwanese military doctrine envisions the army’s combined arms brigades forming mobile interdiction teams with mechanized infantry and attached combat engineers to deny key areas, roads and bridges to the enemy, sources said.
Volcano mine systems are intended to enhance the flexibility and capability of mobile interdiction teams, an organization the army is considering changing from an ad-hoc task force to a permanent establishment, they said.
Last year, news of the minelayer vehicles’ purchase spurred criticism from opposition party members who said the systems would turn Taiwan into “a landmine island.”
The Republic of China Army Command said the superior minelaying speed, mobility and armored protection of the Volcano mine systems mean they are well suited to anti-armor operations in Taiwan proper’s coastal regions.
The Volcano mine system makes use of magnetic detonators that specifically target armored vehicles and self-destruct timers to limit potential harm to civilians, it said.
Additionally, the Volcano’s mines are dispensed on the ground via launchers and not buried manually under the surface, making the post-conflict removal of the explosive devices relatively easy, the army said.
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