TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Army Command Headquarters confirmed Thursday (Sept. 7) that next year's volunteer military service soldiers and one-year mandatory military service conscripts will undergo live grenade training. However, the four-month compulsory military service conscripts will not.
Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi emphasized the army has commissioned the Academia Sinica to manufacture the "fuze" part of the Mk2 grenade for training security purposes rather than purchasing new Mk2 hand grenades, as concerns have been raised about spending NT＄372 million on 240,000 Mk2 grenades — invented approximately a century ago and phased out by US forces 60 years prior.
Lieutenant General Chen also said the army plans to buy M67 hand grenades from the United States in 2024, costing NT＄1.029 billion, to replenish the ammunition supply, dismissing people questioning the purchase indicating the lack of domestic grenade production capabilities in Taiwan.