Taiwan’s Tanks

TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – Crews trained their 30mm cannons, machine guns and anti-tank missile launchers west toward Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the focal point of a defensive operation during Han Kuang 42.

The collection of CM-34 Clouded Leopard wheeled armoured fighting vehicles provided security for a company’s worth of M1A2T Abrams concealed in a construction site to their rear awaiting a refueling truck.

These 60-ton main battle tanks are among the latest American-made additions to Taiwan’s Republic of China Army, which has recently received various systems to bolster its posture against a potential Chinese invasion.

One hundred and eight of the tanks were procured in 2019 by Minister of National Defense Yen Teh-fa, who was himself previously a tanker. Taiwan’s Abrams program has been surrounded in controversy from its procurement amid an internal shift from conventional to asymmetric capabilities. Taipei received its final batch of Abrams in April.

Derived from the Cold War-era U.S. Army mainstay, the M1 Abrams series of tanks were originally designed to combat masses of enemy armor in Central Europe. Recent crises and tensions have brought the tank back into the spotlight through transfers to Ukraine and the resurgence of large conventional confrontations.

Countries in the Indo-Pacific have increasingly looked to long-range missiles capable of striking warships and denying areas over vast distances. Lessons from Ukraine have also influenced a focus on unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles across the first island chain. American partners in the region view the cost efficiency and asymmetric capabilities of drones as a counter to China’s growing conventional military.

Despite these changes in modern warfare, Taiwan is holding onto the armored and mechanized formations that have been torn apart by 21st-century technologies fielded on the battlefields of Ukraine. This stance also comes amid Taiwan’s ongoing rehearsal of anti-decapitation efforts, civil society resilience drills and a $6.6 billion unmanned systems push, all of which were informed by lessons from the Eastern European conflict.

However, for the tankers of the Republic of China Army’s 584th Combined Arms Brigade, the upgraded Cold War-era armor represents a crucial role in the worst case scenario – a successful Chinese landing or lodgement at a port or airfield. In the event of an enemy landfall on the island via People’s Liberation Army Ground Force amphibious brigades, Marines or paratroopers, these tanks plan to push the invaders back into the sea or out of ports of disembarkation.

‘I liked the Jambalaya’

Taiwanese M1A2T Abrams tankers prepare to move out after refueling. USNI News photo taken on Aug. 10, 2026. USNI News photo In recent years, the numbers of American advisors on the ground and Taiwanese troops sent to the U.S. for training has increased amid China’s actions around the island. While the U.S.-Taiwan military cooperation pipeline is not new, its reinvigorated efforts in the 2020s mark some of the most intensive periods of cooperation between Washington and Taipei since the Cold War.

“I liked the Jambalaya,” remarked a staff officer with the 584th ahead of a refueling event west of the airport. Aside from picking up an appreciation for the cuisine, the young Taiwanese tanker also inherited an uncanny American Southern accent during his time training at U.S. Army bases.

According to brigade staff, the deployment of M1A2T across the area was aimed at collecting data on fuel consumption rates in the field. Further integration and familiarization with the tanks for Taiwanese troops was also highlighted.

Prior to the Abrams, the best armor available to Taiwan were CM-series – derived from the M48 Patton design – and M60A3-series tanks. These armoured vehicles still compose the majority of Taipei’s tank formations, with Abrams deployed to select companies of brigades assigned to crucial areas. The commander of the unit praised the increase of firepower and mobility that came with the Abrams.

A Republic of China Army M1A2T concealed outside of Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. USNI News photo taken on Aug. 10, 2026. USNI News photo Outside of Taoyuan airport, the 584th staged one of these 14-tank companies at a construction site directly across from a temple. The tanks were draped with tarps and construction materials scrounged from the construction yard, such as corrugated metal sheets, striped tarps and woodland camouflage netting. When spread out across the yard, the company could be difficult to detect and target.

At least eight M1A2Ts were present at the construction yard. As for the remaining six tanks, it is unclear if they were on another mission or knocked out by the notional invading force during this phase of Han Kuang.

USNI News understands that by this point in the drills, Taiwanese forces were attempting to form a 15-kilometer-long defensive from Taoyuan airport to the mountains to their east.

“What was notable about the Taoyuan drill to me was that Taiwan’s forces practiced setting up a short term resupply position, relatively close to its defensive line but not intended to be a long-term static target,” Ben Lewis, founder of PLATracker, an organization dedicated to monitoring Chinese military activity and development, told USNI News following the tank drill.

“Mobility and dispersion will be key for the survivability of Taiwan’s mechanized formations, and I was glad to see that developing a habit of staying mobile was a priority,” Lewis said.

Republic of China Army CM-34 Clouded Leopard provides security near Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Aug. 10, 2026. USNI News photo Aside from the concealment measures, the 584th also added their own customized anti-drone mesh cages atop their Clouded Leopards and Abrams. These measures follow lessons from Ukraine to defend or complicate drone operators from targeting the exposed top turret of tanks.

Militaries across the world have eyed these measures to increase the difficulty of drone operators from targeting tankers and turret systems. It is unclear if these improvements are being standardized across Taiwan’s armored and mechanized forces.

While moving out, some crew members with the Clouded Leopards removed helmets to ease access to their vehicles. Despite offering increased protection, these mesh cages may impede crew members attempting to bail out of a damaged armoured vehicle. The cages on the Abrams also limited the traversal of the turret-mounted remote-controlled weapons system and the field of view of the commander and gunner.

Tanks in a Taiwan Contingency Operation

A Taiwanese M1A2T Abrams prepares to refuel on Aug. 10, 2026. USNI News photo Overall, the scene evoked something out of a Cold War-era scenario: a company-sized armor formation staging to face a peer enemy ground force on the plains.

The drill paled in comparison to the massive air and naval conflict consistently painted by wargames in Washington, which have prioritized the sinking of Beijing’s landing forces, massed missile barrages and attrition-heavy maritime engagements.

While these scenarios are still likely to occur in a cross-strait conflict, maintaining capable ground forces will still be important, Erich Shih, the chief editor of Taiwan-based Military & Aviation News, told USNI News.

“To shatter the PLA’s goal of a ‘quick war with a quick resolution,’ the ROC Army maintains a massive and modernized ground force. This forces the PLA to mobilize an immense amphibious landing fleet and vast logistical capabilities, significantly lengthening their preparation time,” Shih said regarding the role of main battle tanks in a contingency.

An improved Taiwanese ground force increased the resources and landing forces required by China to successfully establish a position on the island, increasing the amount of time for preparations for Beijing and the time for response by Taipei’s allies, Shih said.

“Taiwan’s heavy armored forces, including the M1A2T, can deliver a crushing blow to landing enemy forces that have just established a precarious foothold and lack heavy fire support,” Shih said.

A few days before the concealed refueling drill, the 584th deployed its Abrams onto the apron of Taoyuan airport to practice crushing a notional attempt from paratroopers to seize the airfield. Lewis also noted the utility of large mechanized formations in preventing the use of ports of disembarkation to an adversary.

Denying a Chinese force access to infrastructure in a timely manner was a repeated activity among Taiwanese troops and Marines throughout the north of the island across Han Kuang. Compared to previous years, these drills focused on the preservation of leadership, defense industrial base capacity and key infrastructure nodes. Weathering an initial Chinese attack can enable Taiwan with the time and space necessary to mobilize additional forces and await allied assistance from a reinforced position.