The Ministry of National Defense yesterday revealed a Taiwan-US joint initiative to manufacture artillery shells, signaling an upgrade to the nation’s role in global defense supply chains.
The ministry in a public notice said Taipei and Washington signed a NT$910 million (US$28.85 million) joint heavy-caliber ammunition production agreement for shells with a bore diameter of 105mm or larger.
The allocation is split into multiple projects, as the ministry deemed establishing assembly lines and manufacturing ammunition as separate endeavors for administrative and fiscal purposes, the notice said.
Photo: screen grab from the Ministry of National Defense’s report
The initiative is evidence that US has plans to make Taiwan a munition production center capable of supplying Washington and its allies, should the need arise, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which started in 2022, has relied heavily on artillery fire that NATO members supporting Kyiv’s war effort have all but exhausted their ammunition stockpile, sparking alarms about the resilience of the West’s defense industrial base.
Citing the declassified version of the report on the government’s NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget, the official said the proposal included funding for assembly lines for artillery shells and ammo for tank cannons.
The document talked about facilities for manufacturing 120mm main gun ammo, barrels of 105mm and 155mm artillery pieces, propellant charges for 155mm howitzer shells, and high explosive chemicals, they said.
Some of these facilities would likely use US-sourced components or materials, the official said.
The publicly available version of the Taiwan-US joint development and procurement program, which was published on Tuesday as part of the special budget act documentation, has been redacted altogether.
Taiwan would likely hold off publishing any information about bilateral defense cooperation projects until the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency makes announcements, the official added.
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