Taiwan Adopted Abrams Tanks

Taiwan has held a ceremony of acceptance of modernized M1A2T Abrams tanks into service and formed the first battalion of them.

This was reported by Radio Taiwan International.

On October 31, President of the Republic of China Lai Tsing-de held a ceremony of acceptance of M1A2T Abrams tanks into service. During the ceremony, President Lai said that strengthening the country’s defense capabilities is the only right way to maintain peace. Taiwan will continue to insist on maintaining the status quo and oppose the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

The new tanks were used to form the third battalion of the 584th Armored Brigade, which became the first unit in the Taiwanese army to be equipped with M1A2T tanks.

The 584th Brigade is subordinated to the 6th Army Corps, and its units are deployed in the northern part of Taiwan, where they are responsible, in particular, for the defense of Taoyuan and Zhubei beaches.

“We must insist on maintaining the status quo without arrogance and without undue modesty, and oppose annexation, aggression, reunification propaganda, and the One Country, Two Systems principle. We will always insist on a free and democratic constitutional system, on the fact that the Republic of China is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China, on the inviolability of Taiwan’s sovereignty, and on the fact that only the island’s 23 million people can decide their future,” Lai Ching-de said.

M1A2T Abrams

The M1A2T is a variant of the M1A2SEPv3 without special armor with depleted uranium inserts and is not adapted to install an active defense system.

Taiwan received permission to purchase tanks in the special M1A2T configuration on July 8, 2019, which will replace the aging fleet of CM-11 Brave Tiger and CM-12, which are modernized versions of the M48 and M60.

The contract value was estimated at a maximum of about USD 2.2 billion, and according to the contract, deliveries were originally due to be completed by June 30, 2028. However, the schedule was significantly accelerated due to the increased production capacity of the Joint Systems Production Center in Lima.

According to the new plan, 38 Abrams M1A2T tanks arrived on the island of Taiwan in 2024. Then 42 tanks in 2025 and another 28 in 2026.

In addition to the tanks, Taiwan requested 14 M88A2 HERCULES engineer vehicles and 16 Oshkosh M1070A1 HET heavy tractors, along with an equal number of M1000 semi-trailer sets. The package also included auxiliary equipment and weapons.

According to the plan, the new tanks are to strengthen defense in the areas of Kaohsiung (southwest of the country) and Tainan airports, port infrastructure (at least two ports) and northwestern areas closer to the capital Taipei.