The Republic of China Army (RoCA) has acquired a second batch of M1A2T Abrams major battle tanks, which arrived at Taipei Port on the night time of July 27, earlier than being transported out of the the port space by trailer at round 0:10 am the next day. The tanks have been transferred to Armoured Forces Coaching Command in Hsinchu. The supply has greater than doubled the Army’s fleet of contemporary tanks, following the supply of the primary batch of 38 M1A2T tanks by the identical port December 2024. The M1A2T tanks areplanned to be fielded by three mixed battalions of the RoCA’s 584th Armoured Brigade, with 28 automobiles per battalion for a complete of 84 tanks., Every battalion’s tanks will probably be cut up between two firms fielding 14 tanks, for a complete of six tank firms. With the RoCA planning to obtain 108 M1A2T tanks, the remaining 20 automobiles will probably be assigned for coaching.
M1A2T Abrams tanks are anticipated to switch a portion of the RoCA’s lengthy since out of date M48 tanks, serving alongside the ageing M60 tanks that may stay within the Army. Though the brand new tanks have internet but been commissioned into formal fight models, they have been examined below dwell fireplace situations throughout the Han Kuang workout routines in early July. Commenting on their efficiency, Captain Cheng Yu-chun noticed that it was a “main leap ahead in firepower, mobility and safety” in comparison with the ageing M60A3. Commander of the 584th Armoured Brigade Main Common Chou Kuang-i noticed that the Abrams’ superior “hunter-killer” system “permits the gunner to have interaction a goal whereas the commander makes use of an unbiased thermal sight to find the following one… This drastically will increase engagement effectivity and situational consciousness in comparison with older-generation tanks.”
The viability of the RoCA’s new Abrams tanks for prime depth fashionable warfare has repeatedly been dropped at severe query, with the category having confirmed extremely susceptible to assaults utilizing even comparatively fundamental anti-tank weapons when deployed by the Iraqi Army and the Ukrainian Army. By early June 2025 the Ukrainian Army was assessed to have misplaced 87 p.c of the American sourced automobiles, with 27 of the 31 Abrams tanks destroyed or captured, regardless of prior Western expectations that the automobiles might symbolize a sport changer within the theatre. The Abrams first entered service within the U.S. Army 45 years in the past in 1980, and has stood out for being by far the heaviest tank class on this planet, and for being one in every of simply two courses alongside the Russian T-80 to make use of a fuel turbine engine, which considerably will increase upkeep wants and gas consumption however is very useful for mobility.
The Republic of China Armed Forces have struggled to obtain new gear as a result of Republic of China authorities’s standing as an efficient non-state actor, because the worldwide group together with the US and the United Nations recognise the rival Individuals’s Republic of China authorities primarily based in Beijing as the only real legit Chinese language authorities. The 2 Chinese language governments are at present in a state of civil conflict, and every declare to be the only real legit governments of the Chinese language nation. With the US being the one nation prepared to provide major battle tanks, this made the Abrams the service’s solely option to modernise its fleet.
