Renk America has completed the first AVDS-1790 diesel engine ordered by Taiwan to upgrade the Republic of China Army’s (RoCA’s) M60A3 Patton main battle tanks (MBTs), the company revealed on its social media page on 27 August.
“Last week, we proudly marked a major milestone as we celebrated the completion of the first for the Taiwanese M60 Repower Program, now ready for delivery,” said the company. “Our team, alongside our valued Taiwanese customer, commemorated this achievement as the first of many engines to be successfully built and tested for this critical program.”
“With full-rate production underway and a robust backlog of new engines on order, we are excited to continue expanding our relationships with new and existing customers as we bring additional orders to life,” it added.
Renk America – which was formerly the Combat Propulsion Systems division of L3Harris Technologies before its acquisition by Renk Group in 2021 – first announced the deal, which is valued at around US$241 million, in March 2023.
The state-run National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) is currently leading an effort to upgrade an initial batch of 40 M60A3 MBTs
Forty M60A3 MBTs will receive enhancements to their main gun, ballistic fire control computer and sighting systems, centering on the replacement of the original 105 mm M68 rifled gun with a 120 mm smoothbore cannon as well as upgrades to the turret’s hydraulic system for the turret and associated electrical systems.
Upgraded tanks are expected to be redelivered in batches by October 2025.
The initial effort will determine whether the remainder of the RoCA’s M60A3 fleet – understood to comprise a total of 460 ex-US Army surplus tanks – will be upgraded. The type was originally acquired from 1995 through 2000 and are considered to be outmatched by modern tanks.
The RoCA also operates a large fleet of CM-11 Brave Tiger (hybrid M60 MBT with M48 turrets) as well as CM-12 (updated M48A3 MBT) platforms.
Preparatory work is also well under way for the anticipated delivery of the first batch of General Dynamics M1A2T Abrams MBTs by 2024.
by Jr Ng
