BAE Systems signs Taiwan repair deal to speed parts for army recovery vehicles, AAV7s and howitzers

BAE Systems and Taoyuan-based Champion Auto signed a sustainment agreement in Taipei on 10 November that is meant to give Taiwan's armed forces a direct channel to factory-backed parts and repair support for three US-built armoured fleets: M88A2 armoured recovery vehicles, AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles and M109-series self-propelled howitzers.

The deal turns a memorandum of understanding the two companies signed at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September 2025 into a working arrangement. Champion Auto's chairman said the firms completed supply-chain planning, project scoping and compliance vetting of the Taiwanese company's credit, finances and contract integrity in under a year.

BAE plans to phase the work in. Yoshi Tanaka, the company's vice president for Asia business, said the support model would be built first around the M88A2, then extended to the AAV family and to the older M109A2 and M109A5 howitzers, so that each stage has stable support before the next begins.

The practical change, according to Tanaka, is that Taiwanese units should be able to obtain original parts and technical help through a partner on the island instead of waiting weeks or even months. Problems that the local team cannot fix would be referred to BAE's technical staff in the United States, which he said should cut the time equipment spends idle waiting for parts or repair.

Tanaka said BAE would seriously consider holding a parts inventory in Taiwan if the partnership goes well, and would study having the local partner manufacture and supply some components. He said BAE chose Champion Auto because of the trust it has built with the military customer, its existing logistics service record and its technical base.

Marc Collins, BAE's vice president for international business development, who signed for the company, also pointed to the confidence Taiwan's military end users already place in Champion Auto and to its record of execution, which he described as central to BAE's combat vehicle and artillery business.

Champion Auto's chairman described the agreement as a strategic commercial maintenance channel that sits alongside, rather than replaces, the military's own maintenance system. He said it is intended to make up for the long turnaround times of in-house military repair work and to help keep equipment readiness rates up.

He argued that Taiwan's forces operate many types of equipment in relatively small numbers, which makes logistics and repair difficult, and urged faster development of commercial maintenance channels to supplement military capacity. He said combat power depends on secure logistics support.

Under the plan, Champion Auto will first send staff for specialist training. With the military's approval, it will then build up parts supply and repair capability step by step and seek the technology transfer it needs, with the aim of keeping maintenance skills inside Taiwan and widening training for its workforce.

The 2025 memorandum had also named the newer M109A7 howitzer alongside the M88A2 and AAV7. At the time, Tanaka declined to comment on the M109A7 and said the memorandum was meant to prepare for future needs. Champion Auto has long specialised in selling and maintaining construction machinery and heavy-duty vehicles.