The arrival of the new lot coincides with the aggravation of tensions between Taipei and Beijing
Taiwan received a second lot of 42 M1A2T tanks from the United States, equipment that will reinforce the island’s defensive abilities compared to China’s growing military pressure, the CNA official agency reported Monday.
The Armored, M1 Abrams variants -the main American combat tank -arrived on Sunday night to the Port of Taipei and were later transported to a Taiwanese Army Training Center, located in Hsinchu County in the north of the island.
The Taiwan government has allocated about $ 40,500 million Taiwanese (1,166 million euros) for the acquisition of 108 M1A2T tanks between 2019 and 2027. The vehicles will integrate the sixth body of the North Island defense.
Of the total ordered, 38 tanks arrived last December and 42 on Sunday, and the remaining 28 expected to be delivered to 2026.
The Abrams Taiwanese, who performed the first royal fire exercise on the island on July 10, are equipped with smooth soul -soul cannons, capable of drilling shields of 850 millimeters thick and resisting projectiles fired by most service tanks in the world.
The arrival of the new lot coincides with the aggravation of tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which he considers Taiwan, governor autonomously since 1949, as a “inalienable” part of Chinese territory.
The United States, the main arms supplier to the island, do not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but maintain the possibility of defending the territory in case of conflict with China.
