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.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS