Republic of China Army More Than Doubles Abrams Tank Fleet with 42 More Vehicles

The Republic of China Army (RoCA) has received a second batch of M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks, which arrived at Taipei Port on the night of July 27, before being transported out of the the port area by trailer at around 0:10 am the following day. The tanks were transferred to Armoured Forces Training Command in Hsinchu. The delivery has more than doubled the Army’s fleet of modern tanks, following the delivery of the first batch of 38 M1A2T tanks through the same port December 2024. The M1A2T tanks are  planned to be fielded by three combined battalions of the RoCA’s 584th Armoured Brigade, with 28 vehicles per battalion for a total of 84 tanks., Each battalion’s tanks will be split between two companies fielding 14 tanks, for a total of six tank companies. With the RoCA planning to receive 108 M1A2T tanks, the remaining 20 vehicles will be assigned for training. 

M1A2T Abrams tanks are expected to replace a portion of the RoCA’s long since obsolete M48 tanks, serving alongside the ageing M60 tanks that will remain in the Army. Although the new tanks have net yet been commissioned into formal combat units, they were tested under live fire conditions during the Han Kuang exercises in early July. Commenting on their performance, Captain Cheng Yu-chun observed that it was a “major leap forward in firepower, mobility and protection” compared to the ageing M60A3. Commander of the 584th Armoured Brigade Major General Chou Kuang-i observed that the Abrams’ advanced “hunter-killer” system “allows the gunner to engage a target while the commander uses an independent thermal sight to locate the next one… This greatly increases engagement efficiency and situational awareness compared to older-generation tanks.”

The viability of the RoCA’s new Abrams tanks for high intensity modern warfare has repeatedly been brought to serious question, with the class having proven highly vulnerable to attacks using even relatively basic anti-tank weapons when deployed by the Iraqi Army and the Ukrainian Army. By early June 2025 the Ukrainian Army was assessed to have lost 87 percent of the American sourced vehicles, with 27 of the 31 Abrams tanks destroyed or captured, despite prior Western expectations that the vehicles could represent a game changer in the theatre. The Abrams first entered service in the U.S. Army 45 years ago in 1980, and has stood out for being by far the heaviest tank class in the world, and for being one of just two classes alongside the Russian T-80 to use a gas turbine engine, which significantly increases maintenance needs and fuel consumption but is highly beneficial for mobility. 

The Republic of China Armed Forces have struggled to procure new equipment due to the Republic of China government’s status as an effective non-state actor, as the international community including the United States and the United Nations recognise the rival People’s Republic of China government based in Beijing as the sole legitimate Chinese government. The two Chinese governments are currently in a state of civil war, and each claim to be the sole legitimate governments of the Chinese nation. With the United States being the only country willing to supply main battle tanks, this made the Abrams the service’s only choice to modernise its fleet.