Live-fire training exercises to be held by the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County would include US-made M1A2T tanks, a military source said yesterday.
The Armor Training Command is to conduct live-fire training at the Kengzikou Range (坑子口訓練場) in Hsinfeng Township (新豐) from Monday through the middle of next month involving "surface weapons," with the maximum altitude of ballistic projectiles being 2,000 feet (610m), the Fisheries Agency said in a statement.
Some of the training would take place at night, the statement said.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency via CNA
The weapons used in the training would include M1A2T tanks, while more live-fire exercises involving the vehicles are planned before they are formally commissioned, the source said.
The first batch of 38 M1A2T tanks purchased from the US as part of a deal for 108 tanks arrived in Taiwan in December last year.
Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi (黃文啓), director of the Department of Strategic Planning, has said that the M1A2T tanks would have no role in the 41st Han Kuang exercises next month, as they would still be in the training phase.
The army reportedly plans to hold a commissioning ceremony for the tanks in the second half of this year.
Former defense ministers, retired generals, presidential strategic advisers and former commanders of the Armor Training Command are expected to be invited to the ceremony.
The M1 Abrams tank was named in honor of former US Army general Creighton Williams Abrams Jr, known for his expertise as an armor commander, the source said, adding that the military is considering inviting his son Robert Abrams, a retired US Army four-star General, to the ceremony.
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