An Army training area in Tainan was the stage for the first live-fire showing of Taiwan’s domestically developed 105 mm wheeled armored fighting vehicle to the media. During the Sept. 23, 2026 demonstration, the vehicle hit a moving target at 1.2 km and a stationary target at 1 km.
The program calls for 178 vehicles, with mass production scheduled to begin in 2027, according to Maj. Gen. Chen Chien-chung, head of Arsenal 202. The demonstration was run by the Ministry of National Defense and included firing on a slope and a combined main-gun and machine-gun serial.
Focus Taiwan, the English-language service of the Central News Agency, reported in its Sept. 23 account by Sean Lin that the ministry “gave the media its first live-fire demonstration of the 105 mm mobile gun system.” In the shoot, “the vehicle hit moving and stationary targets at ranges of 1.2 km and 1 km, respectively.” The vehicle also fired at targets off to its side while parked on a gentle slope, and its coaxial machine gun fired alongside the main gun to “simulate repelling amphibious combat vehicles,” according to the report.
A misfire, and a two-minute wait
Not every round went cleanly. Focus Taiwan reported that the second round initially failed to fire and that the crew waited two minutes before reloading, in line with safety procedures. Chen said his team would investigate the cause.
Taiwan News put the shoot at six rounds across four scenarios in its Sept. 23 report by Keoni Everington. It quoted Chen saying that “misfires occur in militaries worldwide,” and quoted Sgt. Ku Pei-i, a former CM11 tank commander, saying the vehicle’s “fire-control system was more advanced and efficient.”
Shorter, tighter-turning than the 2023 prototype
The production-bound design has changed since it was first shown. According to Focus Taiwan, the vehicle is about 30 cm shorter than the 2023 prototype and stands under 3 m tall. Because it can now “steer using three pairs of wheels,” the report says, “Its turning radius has also been reduced from 11 m to 9 m.”
The War Zone, in a Sept. 23 report by Thomas Newdick, described the vehicle as a direct fire support variant of Taiwan’s “Clouded Leopard” 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle. TWZ reported that it pairs the 105 mm main gun with a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, shares ammunition with the M60A3 and CM11 tanks, and passed initial combat readiness testing in October 2023 before being authorized for mass production in April 2024. Taiwan News reported that the final designation is “subject to approval by the defense ministry,” and referred to the vehicle as the Cheetah.
Counter-drone protection is next on the list. Focus Taiwan quoted Chen saying “an anti-drone cage would be fitted to protect the vehicle against incoming drones,” and the report said a gun of at least 25 mm caliber is also planned, citing an unnamed source.
178 vehicles, 2027 to 2033
The production numbers trace to Taiwan’s budget documents. A Central News Agency report dated Aug. 31, 2026, written in Chinese, said the Army had set aside a multiyear budget of NT$57.07156 billion “籌購178輛戰砲車” (“to procure 178 gun vehicles,” translated by Combat Rated). CNA reported that the figures came from the 2027 national defense budget book and that procurement runs from 2027 through 2033, starting with eight vehicles in the first year and peaking at 36 a year.
The same CNA report said the vehicle was developed by the Armaments Bureau and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology under a program CNA called the Cheetah Project, and that the revised D3 prototype passed the Army’s evaluation. Taiwan News reported that the 178 vehicles are intended to replace M41D light tanks.
For now, the record is the Tainan shoot: hits at 1.2 km on the move and 1 km standing, one misfire under investigation by Arsenal 202, and mass production scheduled to begin in 2027.
Top image: A CM-32 Yunpao (Clouded Leopard) armored personnel carrier on display at Chenggongling, Taiwan, in October 2011. It is not the new 105 mm version. Image Credit: 玄史生 — CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.