Taiwan's Military Showcases Abrams Tank Firepower

Taiwan’s military is carrying out one of the first public shooting drills using newly delivered U.S.-made Abrams tanks.

Transcript

00:00We're here in one of Taiwan's largest tank training facilities, where the military is

00:04conducting live-fire shooting with US-made Abrams tanks, some of the most powerful in

00:10the world, so powerful that we have to wear earplugs during the drill.

00:14This live-fire session is not part of Taiwan's annual Hong Kong exercises, being held at

00:19the same time elsewhere in the country.

00:22That's because these tanks, known as the M1A2, arrived just seven months ago and have

00:26not yet been officially commissioned by the army.

00:29Still, Taiwan's President Lai Qingde, who was overseeing the drills, says he wants to

00:33give the public a glimpse into how the military is training to use these advanced systems.

00:38No matter whether the attack force or mobility are very strong, the M1A2T will be the strongest

00:55one ordered 108 Abrams tanks in 2019 in a deal worth nearly 2 billion US dollars.

01:01After the first batch arrived in December 2024, the military began integrating them into its

01:06armored cavalry units.

01:08Soldiers inside the tank say the state-of-the-art technology makes them far easier to operate

01:13than Taiwan's older models, with commanders saying they allow crews to engage the enemy

01:17faster.

01:32Taiwan's military says the Abrams tanks should officially be commissioned into service by 2026.

01:39With more than 1,000 tanks in Taiwan's arsenal, army officials here say that this shooting

01:43drill ushers in a new era as part of the country's plan to have a modernized fighting force, one

01:48that is capable of handling any kind of threat.

01:51Fuwa Hong and Haimeokan in Shenzhou for Taiwan Plus.