Taiwan Military News Thread

[Aerodriver]

LIGO:-
Only Mao's picture is in Tianmen square. Sun Yat-sen’s and sometimes other people’s pictures are only hung for special anniversaries etc and in much less prominent places.

 

[Deleted member 675]

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Must apologise for the non-English link. Don't understand it much myself, but it confirms that the Taiwanese "Clouded Leopard" (CM32) armoured vehicle has entered production. Production is going to be 600 units by 2014 or so.

 

[The_Zergling]

It's in Traditional Chinese so I can read it easily. (Then again it's from the Taiwan Ministry of Defense, what did I expect?) Let's see here... I'm not going to do a sentence by sentence translation, just a summary of the key points. FuManChu basically got them all, I'll just elaborate somewhat.

The indigenous eight-wheeled Cloud Leopard armored vehicle has entered production, 14 units are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, and it is planned that by 2014 more than 600 will be produced to increase the fast-response capabilities of the military.

They will replace the M113 or V150 armored vehicles, which will not only fulfill their mission roles, but will also improve efficiency and demonstrate innovation and desire for progress.

The military representative noted that the design center had suffered much from the 921 earthquake (1999) but overcame these obstacles, successfully producing more than 1000 Tiger-class tanks, as well as M41D and CM21 armored vehicles for military training. The Clouded Leopard which was designed to work in Taiwan's unique geography went through the design phase 2002-2005, and passed all evaluations with flying colors.

The project was planned so that from 2006 to 2014 more than 600 will be produced, starting with the small batch of 14 this year. (That's ~75 a year)

 

[Deleted member 675]

They will replace the M113 or V150 armored vehicles

Now that's something that confused me. When it says M113, does it mean just the foreign version or the CM21 (locally produced version) as well?

By the way, when you say "or" do you think that's what they mean? Surely it's "and".

 

[Clouded Leopard]

The military representative noted that the design center had suffered much from the 921 earthquake (1999) but overcame these obstacles, successfully producing more than 1000 Tiger-class tanks

Taiwan built 1,000 Tiger tanks? I never knew that O___o

 

[Deleted member 675]

Taiwan built 1,000 Tiger tanks? I never knew that

Hmm, I wonder where they got that figure from. Any ideas? Maybe they counted the M-60A3 too.

 

[The_Zergling]

Um... oddly enough the actual article has "or" instead of "and". I'm not exactly sure what it means. My guess is that it will replace the M113 in some situations and locations, V150 in others. That's the best I can come up with... it's really hard to say though, a good guess of how they're distributed would come from examining the mission profile. It's a Stryker-like vehicle, which obviously isn't sufficient to replace a tank. Looking at its stats, it is a bit heavier and slower than one would expect given available engine power, meaning that in all likelihood it has a fair amount of armor, at the very least enough to stop standard small-arms fire, though RPGs would be cutting it.

I was a bit surprised by the 1000 number as well, and I'm assuming it's counting all the armored vehicles produced, not just the Tigers. The wording is a bit confusing there, but common sense tells us Taiwan doesn't have 1000 Tigers.

I'll ask around...

 

[Deleted member 675]

Looking at its stats, it is a bit heavier and slower than one would expect given available engine power, meaning that in all likelihood it has a fair amount of armor, at the very least enough to stop standard small-arms fire, though RPGs would be cutting it.

I believe the weight may be due to the fact Taiwan can't manufacture the most "efficient" types of steel and thus have to make it a bit heavier to get the same level of protection. The armour all around will stop 7.62 mm AP rounds - the front arc is good for 12.7 mm AP ammo (so the sides & rear are more vulnerable).

 

[Finn McCool]

I believe the weight may be due to the fact Taiwan can't manufacture the most "efficient" types of steel and thus have to make it a bit heavier to get the same level of protection. The armour all around will stop 7.62 mm AP rounds - the front arc is good for 12.7 mm AP ammo (so the sides & rear are more vulnerable).

Wait what do you mean Tiger?

 

[The_Zergling]

After looking around a bit, I found out that the M113 is apparently to be replaced due to its age, while the CM21 is to remain in service. (The CM21 is indeed based on the M113 but has improved side armor, revised seating to help shooting, and components compatible with local industries). In addition, there appears to be more than one version of the V150, of which the disliked 4-wheel version will in all likelihood be replaced, not all of them.

Oh yeah, some news: Conscription age limit reduced to 36.

The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment changing the third article of the military service law (?), reducing the term of service from 40 years old to 36. In addition, article fifty was edited as well, expanded to include reserves or discharged soldiers, administration controlled by the Ministry of Defense.

The original wording for article three stated: Males 18 years of age begin military service January 1 of the next year (meaning of I turned 18 in 2000, my service would begin January 1 2001), up until the year in which they turn 40 years old, to be discharged December 31 of that year. Officers and Noncoms are not restricted by this rule.

The new wording basically just changes the 40 into 36.

義務役官兵除役年齡降為卅六歲
發稿日期：2007/03/05

（軍聞社記者岳宗新台北五日電）立法院今天三讀通過修正兵役法第三條條文，義務役官兵除役年齡由四十歲降為三十六歲，以及兵役法第五十條，本法修正施行前的補充兵及已訓或待訓國民兵役期，均到除役時止，管理辦法由國防部會同內政部訂定。
第三條原條文規定，男子年滿十八歲之翌年一月一日起役，至屆滿四十歲之年十二月三十一日除役，稱為役齡男子；但軍官、士官除役年齡，不在此限。
條文修正後規定，男子年滿十八歲之翌年一月一日起役，至屆滿三十六歲之年十二月三十一日除役，稱為役齡男子；但軍官及士官除役年齡，不在此限。