Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has announced that it placed an additional order of 21 CM-34 “Clouded Leopard” eight-wheeled wheeled infantry fighting vehicles.
The new order comes on top of 284 CM-34 IFVs already ordered for the nation’s military, said Yu Yu-tang of the Armaments Bureau, which developed the Clouded Leopard and is an affiliated authority of the Ministry of National Defense.
According to the contract, mass production of the 284 combat vehicles is expected to be completed by 2023. Yu Yu-tang also said that 32 new combat vehicles were delivered last year, of which six have so far entered service.
The new 24-tonne CM-34 vehicles will be equipped with a stabilized Mk 44 Bushmaster II 30 mm dual-feed cannon and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun, which was designed and made in Taiwan.
The CM-34 model will be developed to help deter a potential amphibious invasion, reported Liberty Times.