A group of conscripts doing one-year mandatory military service yesterday fired domestically made portable rocket launchers during a media event in Tainan.
In the live-fire exercises at the Southern Taiwan Military Training Center, conscripts who spent several weeks training with portable Kestrel missile launchers fired several rounds from the domestically built weapon system.
Each conscript carried the launchers on their backs before firing them in kneeling positions from their shoulders under the supervision of instructors.
Photo: CNA
Most of the rockets hit targets about 200m away, but one of the launchers did not fire, reportedly due to a malfunction.
The exercises were also meant to test conscripts’ ability to deal with weapon malfunctions.
The training center’s deputy commander, Colonel Yu Shao-jui (余紹睿), said that the launcher that failed to fire would be given to its developer, Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan’s top military research institute, for further examination.
The 110cm-long Kestrel weighs 5kg, fires 67mm rounds and has a range of 220m.
The launcher is made from fiber-reinforced plastic and features an optical sight as well as a mount for a night vision scope.
The conscripts were part of the first group that began their one-year compulsory service earlier this year after Taiwan extended military service to one year from four months.
The decision to lengthen the period of compulsory military service for Taiwanese men was aimed at strengthening the nation’s combat readiness in the face of threats from China, the government said.
Other steps have been taken on that front, including updating training regimens, providing conscripts with new helmets and bulletproof vests, and purchasing new mortars, cannons and machine guns.
The military is mainly a volunteer force of about 215,000 people, with conscripts serving in a supporting role.
As of June, there were 152,885 active-duty voluntary military personnel in the armed forces.
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