China has always insisted that Taiwan is part of its territory, which it has vowed to take back by force, if necessary
While the Chinese Air Force's intimidation of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone is at an all-time high
Taipei’s growing proximity to the USA has irked the communist nation
The US will offer its assistance to help Taiwan meet its weapons requirement
Taiwan's military is said to have spent a large amount of money to buy American tanks
In July 2018, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense budgeted money to purchase 108 M1A2 tanks from the U.S. government
to replace its aging CM-11 Brave Tiger and M60A3 main battle tanks
The $1.42 billion deal was approved in 2019, under which 108 Abrams tanks would be delivered in four batches between 2023 and 2026
The pact also includes Stinger missiles and other equipment
The first two of these tanks were delivered to Taiwan in September 2022
M1A2T is a special variant of M1A2C for Taiwan.
According to the DSCA statement, it is roughly equivalent to M1A2C, except depleted uranium armor is replaced by FMS export armor
There is no mention of the Trophy APS system. But the question arises
of all the weapons Taiwan needs to defend itself against a Chinese invasion, should the main battle tank top the list?
First, Taiwan is an island. To forcibly conquer Taiwan, China will have either bombard it into submission with missiles and aircraft
or conduct an amphibious and airborne invasion across the 110-mile-wide Taiwan Strait
If China can land a sizeable force on Taiwan, then it has achieved sufficient air and naval superiority in the face of Taiwanese, and quite possibly U.S. defenses
Presumably, those 108 M1A2, and the five hundred or so older M60A3 and M48 tanks would counterattack the beachhead
But this is no easy matter: the attacker has surprise and local superiority
while the defender suffered a gauntlet of interdicting air bombardment and naval gunfire
And China will have no shortage of tank-killing weapons, including smart bombs, attack helicopters
and People’s Liberation Army marines and paratroopers that will be armed with plentiful anti-tank rockets as well as amphibious armor and airdroppable light tanks
If that’s not enough, China is developing missile-armed drones that could stalk tanks
China is beefing up its amphibious capabilities, including the deployment of a new Type 075 amphibious assault ship that can carry 900 marines and their vehicles
as well as helicopters and possibly even vertical-takeoff fighters
More Type 075s are coming, while China also fields three airborne divisions as well as heliborne air assault brigades
A hundred M1A2s, is a powerful force if massed and used properly
The terrain of the island is rough, there is the hundred-mile Taiwan Strait to cross, and a barrier of Taiwanese and possibly American aircraft and warships to penetrate