On Monday, December 16, 2024, the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan) announced on social media the commencement of deliveries from the USA of the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams tanks out of a total of 108 ordered.
Photos: Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China via X
The transport carrying heavy military equipment arrived on Sunday at the Port of Taipei in the Bali District of New Taipei. Early Monday morning, the tanks were moved on low-loader trailers to the armored training center of the 584th Armored Brigade, headquartered in Hsinchu City in northwestern Taiwan.
According to the schedule of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China, the delivery of another 42 tanks is planned for next year, while the remaining 28 units are scheduled for 2026. In addition to the Abrams tanks, the authorities in Taipei have also contracted accompanying vehicles.
On January 22 of this year, Taiwan’s armed forces command announced the planned delivery of the first batch of Abrams tanks for this year. It was reported that the tanks would be delivered not only to Hsinchu (98 units) but also to the 269th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, headquartered in Taoyuan City in the same part of the island (10 units), under the jurisdiction of the Department of Armaments and Training. On December 4, it was announced that the transport was already en route, with delivery expected in mid-December.
The Abrams tanks will replace the CM-11 Brave Tiger tanks in the 6th Army Corps.
The first two M1A2T tanks were showcased at the Taiwan-US Army New Combat Vehicle Project Management conference in July 2022. Taiwan received approval for the purchase of the tanks on July 8, 2019, and an intergovernmental agreement was signed by the end of that year.
The value of the contract was initially estimated at a maximum of approximately 2 billion USD, but according to the terms of the agreement, it was set at 39.8 billion TWD, which is 34% less. Originally, deliveries were to be completed by June 30, 2028, but the timeline has been significantly accelerated thanks to increased production capacity at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, a facility owned by the US Department of Defense but managed by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS).
In addition to the tanks, Taiwan requested 13 M88A2 HERCULES armored recovery vehicles and 16 Oshkosh M1070A1 HET heavy equipment transporters, along with the same number of M1000 low-loader trailers. The package also included support equipment and armament (plans are in place to launch domestic production of 120 mm caliber ammunition – editor’s note).
The M1A2T is a variant of the M1A2SEPv3 without special armor inserts containing depleted uranium and not adapted for the installation of a hard-kill active protection system (APS).
Meanwhile, deliveries of M1A2SEPv3 tanks to Australia are ongoing (46 out of 75 units have already been delivered), and deliveries of the same version to Poland are expected to begin later this month.
Heavy Armors Have Arrived!
Welcome to join us!#M1A2T #ROCArmy pic.twitter.com/OTXtU7pw5h— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) December 16, 2024