Taiwan Acquires First New Tanks in 30 Years: Was the American M1A2T Abrams the Right Choice?

<p >The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF), the official name of the military of Taiwan, have received their first shipment of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks, marking the territory’s first acquisition of new tanks in close to 30 years. The vehicles are reported to have arrived on December 13, before making a 350 kilometre journey to the Army’s Armor Training Command in Hukou, Hsinchu County. Taipei has long made efforts to acquire Abrams tanks, with the ROCAF’s current inventory of Vietnam War and pre-Vietnam War era M60 and M48 tanks considered to have long since become obsolete. The newest tank in service, the M60, first entered service in the U.S. Army in 1960, and was supplied to the ROCAF in the 1990s from U.S. Army surpluses after the Cold War. The M1 Abrams has served in the U.S. Army since 1980, although it has been much less widely exported than its predecessors in large part due to its very high operational costs and maintenance needs. The Republic of China Army is the first service in East Asia to procure the vehicles. </p><p ><img src=" title="M1A2T Abrams Tank Built For the ROCAF"></p><p >Taipei notably made significant attempts to procure the Abrams Tank in the 2010s, with initial hopes raised that the first Donald Trump administration inaugurated in 2017 may agree to a sale, as well as to the transfer of F-35 fighters. These hopes were abandoned by the end of the year, leading the ROCAF to instead invest in modernising its M60 tanks. Taiwan has consistently struggled to procure modern armaments due to it status as effectively a non-state actor, with the Republic of China government based in Taipei claiming to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, and thus being in a state of civil war with the internationally recognised Chinese government based in Beijing. This has made major arms sales to the ROCAF highly controversial. The Trump administration controversially approved multiple <a href=" target="_blank">major arms sales to Taipei</a> in 2019 totalling close to $10 billion in value, with the bulk of this value being an<a href=" target="_blank"> $8.2 billion sale </a>of 66 F-16 Block 70/72 fourth generation fighters for the Republic of China Air Force.  </p><p ><img src=" title="F-16D Block 70/72 Fighter"></p><p >The ROCAF is set to receive 108 M1A2T tanks, although these notably lack the depleted uranium armour used by the U.S. Army, with FMS export armour used in its stead. This significantly reduces armour protection levels for the vehicles, with Abrams tanks lacking depleted uranium armour having <a href=" target="_blank">proven highly vulnerable</a> to attacks using even relatively basic anti-tank weapons when deployed by the Iraqi Army and the Ukrainian Army. The tanks notably also lack the Israeli Trophy Active Protection System which is being integrated onto modern variants of the Abrams tank both for domestic use and for export, meaning they cannot intercept incoming projectiles as advanced tanks from the Chinese mainland are able to. Indeed, the ROCAF’s selection of the Abrams was largely considered to have been made due to a lack of other options, since Taipei’s internationals statues means no parties other than the United States are willing to openly supply it with advanced armaments. Built with a fuel hungry gas turbine engine, the tank class was considered optimal for offensives through central Europe, but is likely not optimal for the ROCAF’s asymmetric defence strategy.</p><p ><img src=" title="Drone Footage of M1A1 Abrams Burning in Ukraine" ></p><p >The Abrams tank’s performance has come under growing scrutiny following its use in combat in Ukraine, with initial hopes in the Western world that the tank would prove to be a game changer met with underwhelming results. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan concluded that Abram tanks were “not useful” for Ukraine’s war effort, with over 20 of the 31 tanks delivered to the Eastern European country now thought to have been destroyed, disabled or captured, with most kills on film being achieved <a href=" >by guided artillery</a> or <a href=" >by single use ‘kamikaze’ drones</a>. U.S. Undersecretary for Defence for Policy Colin Kahl previously warned: “The challenge with the Abrams is, it’s expensive. It’s difficult to train on. It is very difficult to sustain. It has a huge, complicated turbine engine that requires jet fuel… Frankly, our assessment is just that the Abrams is not the right capability at this time.”  For the ROCAF, which faces overwhelmingly unfavourable odds in a cross-strait war, the Abrams is not expected to be able to make a significant contribution to fighting efforts. </p>