TADTE 2025: Taiwan unveils D3 105 mm light tank

The D3 seen at TADTE 2025. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)

Taiwan has officially unveiled its D3 105 mm Mobile Gun System at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) 2025 held from 18 to 20 September.

The D3, which is a direct fire support vehicle, is regarded by the military as a light tank, according to two Republic of China Army (RoCA) officers and a project manager from the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) whom Janes spoke to at the exhibition.

The RoCA officers told Janes the vehicle measures about 8 m in length, has a width of 3 m, and is about 2.9 m in height. “This has resulted in a more compact vehicle that is slightly lighter than the earlier D2 vehicle,” one officer said, adding that the D2 has a height of 3.3 m.

According to the officer, the primary weapon on the D3 is a low recoil gun system. “The D3 has a new gun rail system, which reduces our recoil force by over 70% [from 60 tonnes to less than 20 tonnes],“ the officer added.

The turret on the vehicle is capable of 360º rotation and includes a remote weapon station (RWS) with a 12.75 mm machine gun. A co-axial 7.62 mm gun is placed in the turret, and a total of 12 smoke dischargers are located to the rear of the turret. The turret was also shown equipped with day and night cameras, radio communications antennas, and laser warning sensors (LWSs).

According to the RoCA officer, the vehicle can carry 33 x 105 mm rounds, 800 x 12.75 rounds and about 4,000 x 7.62 mm rounds. The vehicle is also equipped with 24 smoke grenades, she said.