DEFENSE/Military debuts latest indigenous armored combat vehicle prototype

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) A prototype of the latest generation indigenous armored combat vehicle equipped with a 105mm assault gun made its public debut on Tuesday, with military officials saying it is expected to complete testing next year and enter mass production.

The prototype's mobility was showcased during the public demonstration, held at the Ministry of National Defense's (MND) Armaments Bureau 209th Arsenal in central Nantou County.

The four-person crew demonstrated it mastering navigating a 26.6-degree forward slope and a 16.7-degree side slope while surpassing speeds of 100 kilometers per hour.

The domestically produced gun barrel on the vehicle, the newest member of the eight-wheeled Clouded Leopard family, is expected to be able to fire between 800 and 1,000 rounds in its lifetime, according to the arsenal.

The indigenous combat vehicle also has a so-called "hunter-killer capacity," similar to the United States-made M1A2 tank. This means it can engage a target as it tracks another, the arsenal said.

The prototype shown on Tuesday is one of two completed by the Armament Bureau in 2023. Both passed initial weapons testing in February of that year and combat readiness testing in August.

But Taiwan's Army, which will use the armored vehicles when they enter service, believes more upgrades and adjustments, including to the vehicle's height and gun turret, have to be made.

The arsenal is now spending NT$290 million to build a third prototype.

The arsenal said final combat readiness testing on the third prototype is expected to be completed in 2025, before the military decides whether or not the vehicle will enter mass production.

As part of the MND's five-step process for developing weapons, a system needs to go through an initial conceptual design stage, an engineering development stage, initial weapons testing, and combat readiness testing before it can enter production.

The current project involves the newest generation of the domestically-made Clouded Leopard armored vehicle first produced in 2011.

The 209th Arsenal has so far produced 378 CM32/33 and 305 CM34 Clouded Leopards. Their delivery to the army was completed in 2023.

CM-32 and CM-33 models are armed with 40mm automatic grenade launchers, while the CM-34 is armed with the Orbital ATK 30mm Mk44 Bushmaster II cannon, which has a firing range of more than 2km.