Taiwan shows off its latest armoured vehicle, the CM-34 Clouded Leopard, as part of home-grown defence

Eight-wheeled CM-34 is armed with the Mk44 Bushmaster 30mm chain gun, made by Northrop Grumman and has an effective firing range of 3km
President Tsai Ing-wen has been pushing for a greater emphasis on Taiwanese-designed and made armaments

Taiwan

Reuters

Published: 3:55pm, 16 Jun, 2022

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Taiwan’s military showed off its latest domestically produced armoured vehicle on Thursday, the CM-34 Clouded Leopard, at a remote manufacturing site in the mountains of the central part of the island.

CM-34 armoured vehicles are pictured during a demonstration inside a military testing facility in Nantou county, central Taiwan, on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Taiwan has been keen to demonstrate its resolve to defend itself should Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory, ever attack. Those fears have become more pronounced over the past two years or so as Beijing steps up military activities near Taiwan.

While Taiwan relies on the United States for many of its weapons, such as fighter jets, President Tsai Ing-wen has been pushing for a greater emphasis on Taiwanese-designed and made armaments, the most high profile of which are new submarines.

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The eight-wheeled CM-34, which entered service in 2019, is armed with the Mk44 Bushmaster 30mm chain gun, made by Northrop Grumman and with an effective firing range of 3km (1.9 miles). It is designed to be highly mobile, operating in all weather.

Facility chief Wang Wen-hung told reporters the plant in Jiji could produce six vehicles a month, and it had already delivered 173 to the military of a total order for 305.

It is named after Taiwan’s clouded leopard. Though now believed to be extinct, the animal is revered by some of Taiwan’s indigenous people who consider it sacred.

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The development of the vehicle has not been without problems.

Last year, several senior executives from supplier companies were jailed for fraud over procuring substandard parts, including some from mainland China, for an earlier model, the CM-32.