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M1A2T Abrams Main Battle Tank

The M1A2 Abrams, a variant of the M1 Abrams produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, is considered one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world. It is armed with 120-millimeter smoothbore guns capable of piercing armor up to 850 millimeters thick. It can withstand shells fired by most other battle tanks and is faster than Taiwan’s existing tanks, U.S.-made M60A3s and indigenously developed CM11 tanks. The M1A2T tank also features a “hunter-killer” capability, allowing it to track one target while simultaneously engaging another.

In March 2019 Taiwan proposed to purchase M1A2 from the United States. Taiwan submitted a Letter of Request for the price of the package to the United States. The time is earlier than the case of the F-16V. The military expected the possibility of a formal reply from the US in the middle of this year. The top management said that since the M1 tank production line has been stopped, if there is demand in all countries, it will be carried out on the new machine, and the latest M1A2 sep v3 version will be purchased. The M1A2X is a special configuration of the M1A2C, the latest variant of Abrams tanks in production.

It is pointed out that the military's relevant budget for the M1A2 case had been included in the confidential budget this year. If the US officially agrees, the relevant budget may be made public. The M1A2s would be deployed into two armored battalions under the command of the Sixth Army Corps, which is based in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. The military estimates internally that if the total number is 108 for the two battalions, the total price will be nearly 20 billion yuan. A military official has said the U.S. will announce the sale of M1A2X battle tanks to Taiwan within the next three months.

On July 8, 2019 the US State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to TECRO for the M1A2T Abrams Tanks and related equipment and support for an estimated cost of $2 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale. TECRO requested to buy one hundred eight (108) M1A2T Abrams Tanks; one hundred twenty-two (122) M2 Chrysler Mount Machine Guns; two hundred sixteen (216) M240 Machine Guns; fourteen (14) M88A2 HERCULES Vehicles; sixteen (16) M1070A1 Heavy Equipment Transporters (HET); five hundred seventy-two (572) M1002 TPMP-T1 Rounds; three hundred fifty-nine (359) M831A1 HEAT Rounds; and six hundred twenty-one (621) M865 TPCSPS-T2 Rounds, and eight hundred twenty eight (828) M830Al HEAT Rounds.

Also included are sixteen (16) M1000 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) Semi-Trailers; sixty four (64) Export Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio; System (SINCGARS); one hundred eight (108) AN/PSN-13A Defense Advanced; Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver (DAGR) with Selective-Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM); one hundred thirty eight (138); AN/VAS-5B Driver Vision Enhancer (DVE-A) Kits; one hundred eight (108); M250 Smoke Grenade Launchers; fourteen (14) M239 Smoke Grenade Launchers; seven thousand eight hundred sixty-two (7,862) KEW-Al Rounds; one thousand nine hundred sixty six (1,966) CA38 - Cartridge, l20MM Canister Round; eight hundred sixty four (864) M76 (G826) or L8Al /L8A3 (G815) Smoke Grenade Rounds; eight hundred twenty eight (828) Insensitive Munitions High Explosive Tracer (IMHE-T) rounds; twenty two (22) sets Dummy CTG, 120mm Armor­Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding Sabot (CA64); twenty two (22) Dummy Cartridge 120mm Canister Ml028; twenty two (22) Dummy M865 TPCSPS-T (C785); FMS export armor; Hunter/Killer technology, Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV); and Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station-Low Profile (CROWS-LP).

Also included are spare parts; support equipment; AGT-1500 tank engines and X-1100 tank transmissions; depot level support; Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE); repair parts; communication support equipment; communication equipment integration; tools and test equipment; training; training simulators; repair and return program; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; Technical Assistance Field Team (TAFT); and other related elements of logistics and program support.

Additionally, the following recommended basic load ammunition may be included upon request from customer: One hundred fifteen thousand four hundred (115,400) A576 Cartridge, .50 Caliber Linked 4 API/API-T F/M2; one thousand eighty (1,080 ) G8l5 - Grenade, Smoke Screening L8A1/A3; two million four hundred sixty two thousand four hundred (2,462,400) A131 - Cartridge 7.62MM 4 BALL 1 TRACER; one million two hundred thirty-one thousand two hundred (1,231,200) A111 - Cartridge, 7.62mm Blank M82 Linked; one thousand five hundred twelve (1,512) A541 - 50 Armor Piercing Incendiary, Tracer M20 F/M2; ninety one thousand eight hundred (91,800) A557 - Cartridge, .50 Caliber 4 Ball/1 Tracer Linked M33 F/M2; fifty four thousand (54,000) A598 - Cartridge, .50 Caliber Blank F/M2 (MILES); and four thousand nine hundred sixty eight (4,968) AA38 - Cartridge, .50 Caliber M962 (SLAP); and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated program cost is $2 billion.

This proposed sale is consistent with U.S. law and policy as expressed in Public Law 96-8. This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability. The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region.

This proposed sale of MlA2 tanks will contribute to the modernization of the recipient's main battle tank fleet, enhancing its ability to meet current and future regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense. These tanks will contribute to the recipient's goal of updating its military capability while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other partners. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The MlA2T tank prime contractor was General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan. Production will be at Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama, and the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, Lima, Ohio. The M88A2 recovery vehicle prime contractor will be BAE, York, Pennsylvania. The M1070Al Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) prime contractor will be Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. There are no known offset agreements proposed. However, the purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor.

The military expects to receive the first shipment of M1A2T Abrams tanks from the US by 2023, but would send personnel to the US to undergo training and accept the tanks in 2022, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa told a legislative meeting 25 September 2019. The Ministry of National Defense would know the exact dates when it receives the letter of offer and acceptance early next month, he said.

The Legislative Yuan in 2018 approved a budget of NT$40.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) for 108 M1A2T tanks. The most recent budget submitted by the ministry showed that it plans to order 18 of the new tanks in 2022, 18 in 2023, 28 in 2024, 30 in 2025 and the remaining 14 in 2026.

At the meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Shih-ying asked ministry officials about how the M1A2T compares with tanks used by Japan, South Korea, China and other countries in the region. Army Chief of Staff Yang Hai-ming said that the M1A2T is more capable than South Korea’s K2 Black Panther, Japan’s Type 10 and China’s Type 99, their main battle tanks. For amphibious assaults, China relies on lighter tanks, such as its Type 63A, which have even less firepower than the Type 99, he said.

Asked by Tsai about the M1A2T’s fuel, Yang said that it can use either aviation fuel or diesel, adding that the army is considering using diesel. Asked whether roads in Taiwan can support the weight of the M1A2T, at more than 60 tonnes, Yang said that they could.

By the end of 2024, Taiwan had received 38 M1A2T tanks from the United States, the first U.S. tanks for the island in 23 years, and the first batch of an expected 122 due to arrive over the next two years. The tanks are from a batch of 108 tanks and other items announced for Taiwan by then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense records, the island’s military is set to receive two more shipments of Abrams tanks, each consisting of 42 units, over the next two years.

While many defense experts rate the M1A2T as the world’s most advanced main battle tank, some also question whether it is suitable for Taiwan’s relatively confined, built-up spaces and its mountainous terrain. Eric Gomez, senior fellow of Defense and Foreign Policy at Cato Institute, said in a news release that in the event of an invasion by China, its amphibious assault brigade may have light amphibious armored vehicles to help in the attack but it would not be supported by main tanks.“The main task of the Abrams tanks in the Taiwanese army is to fight for those landing points and rely on strong firepower and armor to resist the landing troops,” said Gomez.

Lin Ying-yu, an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, told Taiwan’s Central News Agency that Taiwan’s M60A3s and CM11s tanks have been in use for 30 years and are unlikely to withstand China’s advanced anti-armor weapons. Lin said the M1A2Ts would significantly enhance the island’s defensive capabilities but some experts have questioned the suitability of the M1A2T in Taiwan’s built-up and mountainous terrain.

Michael Hunzeker, associate director of the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University, told Radio Free Asia that although the M1A2 is highly capable, its weight and size made it more suited to open terrain. “Taiwan is highly urbanized, mountainous, and or covered in small roads and small bridges,” he said. “Thus, M1s are highly constrained in where they can go, which limits their utility and works against one of their main advantages: mobility and speed.” The tanks also require extensive logistical support for fuel to keep its jet turbine engine running, and for maintenance, Hunzeker said.

“In essence, it’s not that the M1 is ‘bad’ per se,” said Hunzeker. “It’s that the M1 is a suboptimal allocation of Taiwan’s scarce defense dollars.”

Gomez added that the fuel consumption and maintenance issues were real but not insurmountable. “The bigger danger related to the Abrams logistics requirements is the vulnerability of support facilities,” he said, adding that maintenance facilities and fuel may be vulnerable to China’s long-range strikes.

Ukraine, which has a variant of the Abrams, has more space to disperse its support facilities and reduce its exposure to Russian attacks, unlike Taiwan, Gomez said. “Taiwan’s smaller size makes it harder to disperse its logistics facilities, though it could try hardening the facilities to make them more difficult to destroy,” he said. “Tanks can still be effective, but they need to be supported by other forces that can protect them against things like helicopters and drones,” Gomez added.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked about the arrival of the U.S. tanks on the island that China claims as its territory, reaffirmed its opposition to U.S.-Taiwan military ties. “The Taiwan authorities’ attempts to achieve independence through military reliance on external forces are doomed to fail. China will resolutely defend its national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity,” said Lin Jian, a Chinese ministry spokesperson.