As the US military pulls out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is reportedly seeking to sell some of the weapons used in those conflicts to its allies — and Taiwan is studying the possibility of acquiring M1 Abrams main battle tanks.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) told local media yesterday that efforts to acquire used battle tanks from the US were currently under evaluation.
Taiwan will be joining a number of US allies who will try to grab what is available and it remains to be seen whether it will be able to make the cut.
“A lot of issues need to be considered. To name just a few: Its logistic support, if they could work under the current maintenance system for M60s,” he said, referring to one of the main tanks currently in service.
About 480 M60A3 tanks acquired in the 1990s, as well as 450 M-48H and 300 M-48A5 medium tanks, comprise the Army’s modern battle tank force, which also includes the CM11 (modified M48H turrets mated to M60 hulls) and CM12 (modified CM11 turrets mated to M48A3 hulls) variants.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋) told the legislature recently that the Army was seeking to procure 200 tanks to bolster its forces, adding that the great bulk would be deployed in Hukou Township (湖口), Hsinchu County, which is home to the 584th Armored Brigade.
The M1 Abrams, which entered service in the 1980s and played a major role in ground operations during Desert Storm in 1991, would add firepower to the 30 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters the Army is in the process of procuring from the US. Its main use would be in coastal defense against an amphibious assault.
This would not be the first time Taiwan modernized its forces through the acquisition of excess defense articles from the US.
It procured 12 P-3C “Orion” maritime patrol aircraft from the US for US$1.9 billion in 2007.
Two Osprey-class coastal mine-hunting ships, the decommissioned USS Oriole and USS Falcon, which are scheduled to enter service this year, were also acquired as excess defense articles as part of a US$6.4 billion arms package announced in January 2010.
Surplus defense articles have the advantage of coming at a fraction of the price of a new platform, though they oftentimes incur major costs for new fire control systems, software and electronics.
Taiwan’s efforts to procure the 70-tonne main battle tank go back to the early 2000s, when it requested M1-A2s from the US, a request that Washington turned down.
Critics at the time said Taiwan’s mountainous terrain was unsuitable for the heavy tank, adding that given the maneuverability limits, lighter, medium wheeled tanks would probably be a better option.
Lo said the Army had yet to receive a formal notification from the US.
Additional reporting by AFP
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS