ANALYSIS/Abrams tanks to strengthen Taiwan's defense against PLA landings: Experts

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) The addition of U.S.-made Abrams M1A2T tanks will enhance Taiwan's military capabilities in anti-landing operations, a group of Taiwanese defense experts said following the arrival of the first batch of advanced armored vehicles in the country on Sunday.

The 38 M1A2T tanks, a variant of M1 Abrams, were delivered to the Port of Taipei in New Taipei's Bali District on Sunday. Before this, deliveries of the last type of tank Taiwan received from the United States, the M60A3, began in 1995 and lasted until 2001, according to Taiwan's Army.

This delivery marks the arrival of the first batch of 108 M1A2T tanks and related equipment, which the U.S. government approved for sale to Taiwan in 2019.

They were transported to the Hsinchu-based Army Armor Training Command on Monday.

Taiwan's Army previously said that 10 of the tanks would remain at the Army Armor Training Command and the rest would be deployed to two armored brigades in Linkou District, New Taipei and Hukou Township, Hsinchu County to help defend northern Taiwan.

Four defense experts told CNA that the advanced combat vehicles would help boost Taiwan's coastal defense in the event of a Chinese full-scale invasion.

Chieh Chung (揭仲), a research fellow at the Association of Strategic Foresight, said Taiwan's army now relies on aging U.S.-made M60A3s and indigenously developed CM11 tanks. These are no match for the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) advanced Type 05 amphibious fighting vehicles, he added.

Taiwan's defense would be at a disadvantage without access to the latest generation of advanced tanks, Chieh said.

Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said Taiwan's existing tanks, M60A3s and CM11s, have been in service for three decades and would likely be unable to withstand PLA anti-armor firepower.

He said the addition of M1A2Ts will therefore boost Taiwan's defense.

According to Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the military-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research (NDSR), Taiwan's first line of defense in the event of a PLA landing operation is anti-ship missiles, followed by domestic and U.S.-made mobile artillery rocket systems such as the Thunderbolt-2000 RT/LT-2000, M109 self-propelled howitzer, and HIMARS.

Combat helicopters like AH-64E choppers stand at the third line of defense and coastal defense missiles serve as the fourth line.

He added that the fifth and final line of defense is comprised of tanks, including M1A2Ts, and ground forces.

Another NDSR research fellow, Huang An-hao (黃恩浩), said M1A2Ts and other kinds of tanks play a crucial role in Taiwan's joint air-ground operations. He said they will be deployed alongside mechanized infantry troops and with aviation and special forces.

Huang said the combination of M1A2T tanks on the ground and AH-64E aircraft could double Taiwan's capacity to eliminate invading forces from its beaches and shores.

The M1A2T tanks are equipped with 120-millimeter smoothbore guns that can penetrate 850-millimeter-thick armor and withstand shells fired from most battle tanks.

Their average speed is also significantly faster than Taiwan's current tanks. The combat vehicle also has a so-called "hunter-killer capacity," which means it can engage a target as it tracks another.

According to the delivery schedule released by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, the country's armed forces will receive 42 more M1A2Ts in 2025 and 28 in 2026.

More in DEFENSE