Taiwan receives final batch of M1A2T Abrams tanks from US

Taiwan has received the final batch of its 108-tank fleet, worth around $1.28 billion and procured from the US.

The latest shipment of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks arrived late Sunday to Taipei Port aboard a cargo vessel and was transported on Monday to the Taiwanese army's Armored Training Command in Hukou Township, located in the northwestern Hsinchu county, according to Focus Taiwan.

Taipei had allocated $1.28 billion for the tanks, which the US began delivering in December 2024, with a second shipment made in July.

Taiwan's military currently operates around 1,000 tanks. The new Abrams units will be deployed with the Army's Sixth Corps and are expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.

The delivery of the tanks from the US comes as Taiwanese lawmakers continue to debate a special defense spending bill aimed at procuring more than $39 billion worth of weapons over the next decade.

The US is the main weapons supplier for the island which China claims as its own.

However, opposition lawmakers have so-far blocked the bill from passing.

Main opposition Kuomintang Chair Cheng Li-wun said on Monday that she will visit the US for 10 days in June.

Cheng met with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month in Beijing.