TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Armament Bureau unveiled the latest prototype of its infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), the D2, on Tuesday (June 25).

The D2 is based on the eight-wheeled Clouded Leopard armored vehicle but is armed with a 105 mm assault gun and features hunter-killer capabilities, similar to the U.S.-made Abrams tank, CNA reported. It passed 91 different tests last August as part of its initial operational evaluation and is still in the development phase, military officials said. They added that there were still areas to improve, including the vehicle’s height and the turret’s internal configuration.

The IFV’s gun can fire armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds that can penetrate 500 mm thick steel plates from 2000 meters away. Ammunition can be shared since it has the same gun barrel diameter as Taiwan’s M60A3 and CM11 tanks.

The Ministry of National Defense has approved funding for a new D3 prototype. It allocated NT$170 million (US$5.25 million) for an improved turret, which will be designed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, and NT$120 million for the vehicle body, which the Armament Bureau will handle. The D3 prototype is expected to be completed by 2025.