The M-1 Abrams main battle tank was championed by then-Army Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams in the early 1970s. Abrams had vowed never again that American tanks would be anything but dominant after his experience driving his regiment of Sherman tanks to relieve the surrounded American force in Bastogne in December 1944.
The Chinese (and Russians) continue to study Desert Storm as their model of perfect warfare, and they know the decisive role of the M-1 tank well.
As the cyber liaison from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) for several years, M-1 tanks were routinely brought up as the first point of order in our regular bilateral cyber meetings.
It was a bit of a stretch to connect M-1 tanks to cyber—but there is a nexus.
M-1 ranks not only have the dominant firepower, mobility, and protection of any tank in existence but are also heavily connected to the cyber world. They are perhaps the most ferocious land domain and internet protocol endpoints ever created.
It took years, but finally, the deal was consummated, and now the first 38 tanks have arrived in Taiwan. The Taiwanese army now has its hands on the best tank ever created with a proven combat record.
Abrams Tanks Send Message of Deterrence, US Support
The first M-1s were delivered to the Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Armor Training Command. Some will become training tanks; some will be the nucleus of the first M-1 armored battalion of the Taiwanese army. Delivering the M-1 tank was a strong signal of U.S. resolve.
This was a realistic concern during earlier days of lesser Taiwanese defense spending.
One way to address both the “prickly” and “prestige” weapons was to increase Taiwanese defense spending. Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party has implemented seven straight years of defense spending increases, reaching over $20 billion in 2025.
Both “prickly” weapons (drones and missiles) and “prestige” weapons have a role. Ukraine had few weapons, prickly or prestige, and made Ukraine look like an easy, 72-hour Desert Storm to Russia.
By late 2023, “prickly” weapons were bogging down the war, as both Russia and Ukraine faced small drones on the battlefield. But Ukraine was able to break out of this drone stalemate by using tank maneuver warfare (including M-1s) to counterattack and occupy a significant swath of Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
The Taiwanese M-1 tanks are a strategic psychological operations message of deterrence and a powerful maneuver force to strike and destroy any possible Chinese beachheads on Taiwan’s west coast if an invasion occurs.
Taiwan Waits for Delivery of Defense Equipment
One question regarding the M-1 tank delivery to Taiwan is: Why did it take so long?
With the war in Ukraine, interest in the M-1 has outpaced the plant’s capacity, which has languished and has been underutilized for almost 20 years.
The good news is that Taiwan has started receiving some missile shipments.
Chinese Penetration of LOGINK Shipping Software
China has been conducting an expanding set of Joint Sword exercises demonstrating a possible blockade or quarantine of Taiwan.
During a meeting in September 2024 in Taiwan, Tzu-Yun Su, a research fellow and director of the Taiwan-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research, expressed concern that the Chinese regime might quarantine Taiwan within six months.
With communist China leveraging LOGINK, future shipments of the $22 billion-plus of the backlog of war material from the United States to Taiwan may be selectively targeted in the coming years.
All viewpoints are personal and do not reflect the viewpoints of any organization.
This article first appeared in Epoch Times and was reprinted with permission, with minor editorial adjustments for clarity and formatting.
