Taiwan's Homemade Vehicle Designed to Stop China
997,755
Published 2023-09-19
Is Taiwan’s domestically produced CM-32 the right vehicle for the island's defense? It has a main gun bigger than the US Bradley and it can carry 2 extra soldiers, a full squad of 8 dismounted infantry all while weighing only half as much. That said, the procurement process has been dragging on for 20 years, and production has run into all kinds of setbacks including shocking legal accusations of Chinese espionage. What does the CM-32 tell us about Taiwan's unique military industrial complex? Will those speedbumps slow the clouded leopard down? What kind of specific weapons systems and capabilities make this vehicle a great choice for Taiwan?
Written by: Chris Cappy and Justin Taylor
Edited by: Savvy Studios
The CM-32 cost only about $21.9 million USD to develop, which is an absolute bargain in military R&D. Each unit runs you about $2 million bucks half that of the similar American Stryker. The CM32 base design is 24 tons. Though unlike most western crews of three, the CM32 is only crewed by 2, a driver located in a front left hatch, and a commander/gunner who has high intensity thermal sights to allow for long range spotting and lasing targets. This increases the effective range of each weapon system beyond what would be capable of manned operation, and gives the crew the ability to visually engage targets up to 8 kilometers away. So you could use the thermal optic to pretty much look across the Taiwan strait and see Xi Jinping waving back at you. Not really but that might be a good thing.
Gangs all over the world love this next feature. The Turret is fully stabilized which allows you to do what I call combat drive by shootings with an armored vehicle. It can hit targets while traveling at speeds of over 74 miles per hour over hard top paved roads. I would feel bad for the dismounts in the back if they were going that fast though, because anything over 30mph in a military vehicle feels like riding a spaceship reentering the atmosphere. The turret comes standard with twin T-85 smoke grenade launchers, both as good obscuration for the vehicle itself, and for concealment of infantry if they dismount under fire.
00:00 - 00:31 terrible accent
00:31 - 2:48 CM-31 history
2:48 - 3:52 top class
3:52 - 7:14 China Spying on CM32
7:14 - 9:58 Taiwan CM32 defense strategy
9:58 - 13:29 CM-32 IFV Weapons
13:29 - 19:09 Specifications and Capabilities
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCSq3p5NKEtyp5Rjd4ctiEbg/join
Task & Purpose is a military news and culture oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry.
Email [email protected] for inquires.
#MILITARY #ARMOR #VEHICLES
All Comments (21)
-
Hey you! The son of a Vietnam veteran wants to help vets get their PACT Act benefits. Learn more at: bit.ly/45ZX0JY Correction I flipped west and east description of Taiwan 9:07
-
As someone who grew up in Taiwan, you got the population center backward… Most of the population lives on the Western part of the island, that’s primarily plains and hills, while the Eastern part is where it’s less densely populated with big mountains (I’ve driven on them.. they are quite steep), trees and vines. 😊
-
As an Australian, my god, you would be up there with James Corbin for worst attempt at accent, funny as shit though. As far as purpose built fighting vehicle, I actually think that is perhaps the best one I have seen you review. It is designed to cover all of the terrain needs of a limited area in which it will serve. It is adaptable without redesign. It carries a detachment of eight. That is a vehicle you could adapt US fighting doctrine around without ignoring the core concepts. I am impressed.
-
As a mechanic. Honestly a CAT C12 and an allison transmission is a hell of a powerplant. Probably one of the more reliable off the shelf options for sure.
-
It was a funny bit about the Clouded Leopard hiding in the junkyard, but during the 1st Gulf War, we ran into exactly that. Near Kuwait City in the Al Jahra junkyard, the Iraqis hid a bunch of Panhard AML-90s among the slightly used BMWs. After numerous recon missions from the air and ground, no one had spotted them. The only thing that kept them from hitting us was the fact that you could see the valley of death from the junkyard and the light show the US put on there convinced them to surrender instead of making a stand. The surrender happened within a few hours of our first planned patrol into the Junkyard. We were very happy they made the correct choice! :)
-
I've seen these on the beach here in Taiwan, and want to drive one so bad.
-
At 9:15 I think your graphics got mixed up there.. the western area of Taiwan is the flat plains with 90 % of the population and farming areas are whereas the Eastern side is the hilly side with a mountainous range in the middle protecting the main western population areas from Typhoons blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. I actually just came back from Taiwan last month, just barely missing Typhoon Haikui .
-
You know my absolute, 100%, favorite thing about CM32? It's the thing that comes after the CM31. They just took the number in a model number, and named the thing that's one generation better with one number bigger. This is something that almost no other military on the planet seems to be capable of. What comes after DDG-112? Obviously, DDG-1000. Why? Because DDG-1000 is the next number after DD-997. What comes after M1? M1A1. M2 is completely different. Was M1 the first of it's kind? No, M1 is the next one after M60. There is a thing called M61, but it's completely different from M60 and M1 and unrelated. What letter comes after A in the M1A1? M1E3. E is the next letter after A, and there is no M1E1 or M1E2.
-
CM31 still seems like a valuable tool as an ambulance and rear line transport.
-
That intro was absolutely awful. I fkn love it. Truly diabolical, good man.
-
Just a week ago i saw three running down the main road in the north east of Taiwan. BTW, as a Taiwanese, I'd like to point out that the geography description is opposite from the fact, the west half of the island is the populated plain rather than the east.
-
As many people already pointed out, Taiwan’s geography is actually more mountainous on the east side, and relatively flat on the west side. Also, before the introduction of CM-32, the backbone of Taiwan’s mechanized forces was made up of CM-21 (and its variants) which is a local copy of M113 APC. CM-31 never really entered mass production…
-
While much more expensive in the short run, I like an ifv that will hold 6 dismounts. That way you have twice as many vehicles, with twice as much firepower. Also those six dismounts wouldn't be as squeezed in. There would be much more room for additional equipment. And if one hit a mine or was taken out the other vehicle will be there for cover and back up and a possible tow. I think the 30mm would be minimum now. An alternate would be the 40 mm grenade. more in favor of tracked vehicles what's for Taiwan the wheeled version is probably better. I think the future would be a hybrid vehicle. With a much quieter and fuel-efficient power plant and a large amount of batteries. Your thermal signature would be next to background with the right coatings, not to mention your sound would be very low. It seems like top-down is the way to go with anti-armor munitions these days. Since there's no way that you could put enough armor on the top of an ifv to really make a difference, some combination of active and passive armor against ATGM's would be ideal. Taiwan is lucky in that they don't have to worry about fighting anywhere else but on their Island. Against very known adversaries. There will be no cover from eyes above, either through drones or satellite. Unless they have been neutralized early. It will be brutal. But they can consolidate and fixate they're spending to accomplish what they need to. Which would be to decimate the Chinese Navy and airforce and any Marines or army that get a foothold. If Taiwan could dent the Chinese military hard enough, I think that they would retreat and not come back ever. But for that taiwan has to be able to deliver overwhelming firepower for up to a week or maybe even 1 month. After that, my guess is it would be over unless China decided to double down. In which case it probably won't have much left but their nuclear arsenal. Taiwan has the capability of reaching out and touching the interior of China. And as China becomes weaker, we all know what will happen to the countries surrounding it. Kind of the same thing that is happening in Russia now. I like wolves circling the injured buck in the forest.
-
Hey Chris, you mixed up the geography. The west side is plains and the east side is mountains.
-
Since Taiwan is not likely to war in the Middle East or the Arctic, the temperature range of the vehicle is narrower than most military specs, the choice of COTS components (transmission) is a smart thing.
-
Dude , the comedy is an added bonus . Love the San Fransisco varient with the Tent cammo option.
-
Best Jamaican accent I've ever heard 10/10
-
Hey, Cap. Glad to see you made it big and with over 1M subs too! Great channel you got here. Very informative on a wide range of topics and doesn't put me to sleep like some others do. Gotta get through the backlog on your vids but I really like your style and the mechanized videos really brings me back to the Brads and my time in them. Looking forward to more.
-
Given Chris Cappy's past as a Stryker soldier, I can see why he likes the Clouded Leopard's modularity.
-
Glad to see snarky Cappy back!!! Missed you, mate. You’re a beautiful creature.
