Taiwan is training its Abrams tank crews to hide and refuel inside its bustling urban sprawl

TAOYUAN, TAIWAN — Nestled wrong a building gait astir a mile extracurricular Taiwan's main airport, a platoon of M1A2T Abrams tanks lies successful wait, covered by tarps and debris.

One of the main conflict tanks, sporting a metallic anti-drone cage, roars guardant while crews hole to refuel its powerful Honeywell AGT1500 gas-turbine motor successful the broiling August heat.

Civilian cars and vans whiz by arsenic the Abrams brakes successful the courtyard, allowing troops to link the American-made vessel to an M978 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck.

This segment unfolded arsenic portion of the awesome Han Kuang subject workout simulating a Chinese invasion. On Monday, only months aft Taiwan received the past of 108 third-generation tanks from the US successful April, the 584th Armored Brigade put its Abrams vessel crews to the trial successful an municipality setting.

Space was tight successful the Taoyuan courtyard. Next doorway stood a temple known locally for its elephantine statue of Guan Yu, the Chinese subject wide later deified arsenic a deity of war, rendered for illustration a Lego figurine. A quaint colony threaded pinch alleys and tourist-friendly murals sat astir a shot section away, while the nearest metro position was conscionable a 10-minute walk.

Sitting successful a adjacent parking lot, an escort of respective Taiwanese Clouded Leopard infantry fighting vehicles and Humvees equipped pinch anti-tank missile launchers monitored the attack connected a two-lane street.

The Abrams vessel took astir 15 minutes to refuel earlier lurching onto the constrictive roadworthy and looping astir to subordinate the remainder of the platoon successful their concealed position.

These tanks, assigned to Taiwan's bluish theatre command, are responsible for defending the island's capital, its main airport, and world commercialized port.

An ambush limb successful municipality Taiwan

With complete two-thirds of Taiwan covered by mountains, mudflats, and forested hills — and overmuch of the remainder packed pinch municipality infrastructure — the American-made armor would apt beryllium astir effective successful cities and astir captious chokepoints should Beijing motorboat a crushed invasion.

Erich Shih, a Taiwanese subject expert who runs the website Military and Aviation News, said that Taipei should chiefly usage the Abrams to ambush Chinese forces connected roads starring into awesome cities.

Going "head-to-head pinch PLA tanks is not a bully idea," Shih, who has observed the Han Kuang exercises for complete a decade, told Business Insider.

China fields a fleet of about 6,000 tanks, including astir 2,200 Type 96 second-generation tanks and 500 Type 15 ray tanks. It besides has complete 1,000 Type 5 amphibious battle vehicles.

All 3 are overmuch lighter than the Abrams and little heavy armored against threats for illustration the American-made tank's main gun, but battles often aren't purely contests betwixt individual capabilities. Taiwan's armored forces could request to contend pinch Chinese airpower arsenic well.

If a Chinese onshore invasion reaches the constituent of tank-on-tank fighting successful Taoyuan aliases Taipei, the PLA has apt already suppressed aliases destroyed overmuch of Taiwan's aerial force, Shih said.

Air superiority successful that script would create the conditions for Beijing's fighters, combat helicopters, aliases uncrewed aerial vehicles to supply screen for advancing tanks and infantry.

Rather than prosecute directly, a amended imaginable strategy, Shih said, is to "plan a batch of intercept points aliases intercept areas and to alteration positions arsenic the combat business changes.

In summation to the different armored assets, China besides has complete 1,200 third-generation Type 99 and Type 99A tanks. These tanks are overmuch excessively dense for a formation landing, though they could beryllium flown into Taiwan.

Taiwan's determination to acquisition M1A2Ts from the US successful 2019, arsenic portion of a $2.2 cardinal package that included Stinger missiles, was initially controversial, pinch concerns that the 73-ton vessel would fare poorly connected the island's terrain and lighter bridges successful agrarian areas. Critics based on the costs would person been amended spent connected different asymmetric warfare tools, specified arsenic drones.

Shih said that Taiwan's caller Abrams tanks reside a problem its subject has confronted before: assurance successful the instrumentality troops whitethorn person to return into battle.

The island's different tanks see Cold War-era M60A3s and the decades-old CM11 Brave Tiger.

During the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, Shih recalled, Taiwan's president asked combatant pilots flying aging F-104 Starfighters and F-5E Tiger IIs whether they felt prepared to look China's aerial force.

"They answered that they were assured successful their competence, but not the competence of their equipment," Shih said.

For Taiwan's vessel crews, the Abrams offers a modern level to face China's forces should they ever beryllium called to fight, he said.