Taiwan Receives M1A2T Abrams MBTs

TAIWAN has received its initial batch of M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks (MBT) ordered from the United States, with a total of 38 arriving at the Port of Taipei on December 13.

Following its arrival, the Abrams would be delivered to the ROC Army Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou, 350 kilometres away. The tanks would be deployed with the Republic of China Army’s (ROCA) 6th Army Corps to defend northern Taiwan.

According to the ROC Ministry of National Defense (MND), Taiwan will receive another 42 units next year and a final batch of 26 units in the following year. Maintenance and weapons training on the platforms are expected to kick off next February.

Taiwan signed an agreement with the US in December 2019 for the procurement of 108 M1A2Ts produced by General Dynamics Land Systems and related equipment including 14 M88A2 armoured recovery vehicles, 16 M1070A1 tank transporters and 16 M1000 trailers using an allocation of US$1.24 billion. The new tanks would supplant the ROCA’s fleet of ageing tanks, such as the American M60A3 and locally built CM11 MBTs.

The “T” in M1A2T denotes Taiwan, which is an adapted version of the M1A2 SEP V2 designed to meet ROC military requirements. With a 120mm smoothbore gun as its main armament, it is capable of penetrating up to 850mm of armour while its own composite armour can withstand 850mm armour-piercing (AP) rounds.-shp/adj/dl (Pix:MND)