Tue, Jul 08, 2025 page2

• Military to live-stream Abrams live-fire training

  M1A2T ABRAMS TANKS: Thirty-eight of the 108 armored vehicles were delivered in December last year, with the rest to be delivered between later this year and next year

  • Staff writer, with CNA
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  The military is to live stream a round of live-fire training sessions on Thursday featuring its newly delivered M1A2T Abrams tanks, allowing the public to witness the training results firsthand, the Ministry of National Defense said.

  Based on the ministry’s plan, the live-fire training session, scheduled to take place at an army tank training ground in the Kengzihkou (坑子口) area of Hsinchu County, is to feature the US-made armored vehicles firing their 120mm smoothbore guns at moving and stationary targets, while stationary or in motion.

  At least one senior government official is expected to preside over the round of training sessions, per the ministry’s plan.

  

  Army personnel inspect M1A2T tanks upon their arrival at the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu on Dec. 16 last year.

  Photo: EPA-EFE / Military News Agency

  The ministry previously said the M1A2T Abrams tanks would not be joining this year’s live-fire segment of the annual Han Kuang series of exercises to be staged from tomorrow through July 18, because the vehicles have not been officially commissioned into the army yet.

  However, the army would be holding a round of live-fire shooting sessions with the tanks on Thursday, which would be separate from the Han Kuang drills.

  Taiwan has earmarked a budget of about NT$40.5 billion (US$1.39 billion) from 2019 to 2027 to purchase 108 M1A2T tanks from the US, which are expected to be assigned to the Sixth Army Corps responsible for defending northern Taiwan after entering service.

  Of the 108, 38 were delivered to Taiwan in December last year. Since February, the army has been conducting training before the commissioning of the US tanks.

  Forty-two of the remaining 70 tanks are scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan later this year and 28 next year.

  The military is also upgrading training facilities in Kengzihkou to cater the needs of the M1A2Ts.

  The upgrades, expected to be completed by October next year, are to include a new multiuse shooting range to enable operators of the M1A2T tanks to practice firing at night and while moving, a range extension to 1.8km from 1.34km, and new target platforms that can move automatically, the army said.

  Newly acquired rockets, missile systems and drones are to be put to test during this year’s Han Kuang exercises, the ministry said.

  Among the armaments set to make their debut are US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), TOW-2B anti-tank missiles, newly purchased uncrewed aviation vehicles and a domestically built land-based version of the Sky Sword II missile, it said.

  Up to 22,000 reservists are to participate in this year’s 10-day exercises to test their ability to provide brigade-sized, rather than battalion-sized, support.

  The ministry last week announced that the live-fire portion of the Han Kuang drills are to last 10 days — twice as long as in previous years — and would focus on unscripted scenarios and China’s “gray zone” tactics, which involve coercive actions that fall short of open conflict.

  The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have been Taiwan’s major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized tabletop war games.

  The drills aim to test Taiwan’s combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.

  This year’s tabletop war games were conducted from April 5 to 18.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Taipei to join Japan, US response to rare earth ban

  • 2

    Torrential rain expected this week, the CWA says

  • 3

    Urban mining could evade China’s grip

  • 4

    Notes from Central Taiwan: Taiwan’s intergenerational conflict

  • 5

    Northern cities to decide school/work cancelations by 8pm