EXCESSIVE? Army generals want to place an order for more than 500 tanks to replace legacy models, while the ministry says the army has more than 1,000 tanks in service

Taipei Times
Date: May 08, 2018
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The army has proposed a modernization program to replace or upgrade nine major types of weapons and equipment, including replacing aging battle tanks with US-made M1A2 Abrams, a Ministry of National Defense official said.

The budget plan, titled “The Follow-up Plan for the Procurement of Important New Combat Systems for the Army,” requests the ministry to obtain a substantial number of new weapons, the official said on condition of anonymity.

While the army has over the past decade obtained AH-64 attack and UH-60 utility helicopters and CM-32 wheeled armored personnel carriers, large quantities of other essential equipment still need modernization, the official said.

The nine items on the army’s wish list are tanks, anti-tank guided missiles, self-propelled air defense systems, mortars and 155mm howitzers, infantry fighting vehicles, tracked field recovery vehicles, fuel trucks and new rifles, the official said.    [FULL  STORY]