The Ministry of National Defense plans to invest 27.59 billion yuan in a six-year ammunition replenishment plan with the goal of increasing combat readiness ammunition from 30 days to 120 days.

The Army's Thunder-2000 multiple launch rocket system was launched during a military exercise in Taichung City. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

Demand: Officials say the program needs to be accelerated to replenish ammunition stocks as military exercises and training become more frequent, leading to increased ammunition consumption.

Reported by Aaron Tu and Shelley Shan/Staff Reporter

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According to next year's budget of the Ministry of National Defense, the military plans to increase the inventory of combat-ready ammunition from 30 days to 120 days through a six-year ammunition procurement plan totaling NT$27.59 billion (approximately US$868 million) to enhance its continuous combat capabilities under blockade situations.

After approval by the Executive Yuan on September 3, the Ministry of National Defense has allocated NT$7.3 billion for the ammunition replenishment plan.

The Department of Defense expects to allocate the same amount to the program again next year.

Lieutenant General Hoang Van Hoang, director of the Defense Ministry's strategic planning branch, said earlier this month that the program must be accelerated to replenish ammunition consumed in military exercises and training, which have become more frequent in the past few years.

Next year's defense budget submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review by the Ministry of National Defense shows that the plan is not a single-year procurement, but a six-year plan.

The Ministry of National Defense stated at a special briefing held at the Legislative Yuan in March that before the newly built and expanded domestic defense production lines are fully put into operation, the military plans to prioritize the purchase of one-time purchase items such as 120mm and 105mm tank shells, 30mm artillery shells, 155mm howitzer propellants and high-energy explosives to replenish wartime ammunition stocks and cope with the expected high ammunition consumption during high-intensity battles.

The Ministry of National Defense has previously included ammunition procurement, as well as the construction and expansion of domestic defense production lines, in the Executive Yuan's "Special Procurement Regulations for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Combat Power Plans", which provides an eight-year special defense budget totaling NT$1.25 trillion.

The purpose of the plan is to replenish ammunition stocks and increase domestic ammunition production capacity.

However, the Legislative Yuan lowered the upper limit of the special defense budget to NT$780 billion and listed the purchase of US-made military weapons as a priority project. As a result, general ammunition procurement funds and funds for the construction or expansion of domestic defense production lines were excluded from the scope of the special budget.

News source: TAIPEI TIMES

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