Taiwan's army says its first M1A2T tanks are out of warranty as frozen funds hold up spare parts

Taiwan's army has told lawmakers that the first M1A2T Abrams tanks it received in 2024 have come to the end of their two-year warranty, and that a frozen part of this year's budget for buying replacement parts from the United States could leave it unable to stock them in time, the Liberty Times reported on Monday, Oct. 19, Taipei time. All 108 of the tanks Taiwan ordered from the US had arrived by this year, the paper said.

The figures come from a written report the army command sent to the Legislative Yuan asking it to release the money. The planned purchase totals about NT$1.359 billion, which the Taipei Times put at roughly US$41.75 million, and the Liberty Times said NT$200 million of it was frozen when lawmakers reviewed the budget.

According to the report, the army plans to buy 17 types of second-level maintenance parts totalling 916 items, 144 types of critical components such as recoil mechanisms totalling 294 items, and 86 types of war reserve stock including AGT-1500 gas turbine engines totalling 303 items. That makes 247 types and 1,513 items in all, chosen according to the tanks' technical manuals and a list of critical and backup parts supplied by US technical representatives from their experience with the vehicle.

The army placed the buy within its Ruijie programme, under which it took delivery of 122 M1A2T tanks and M88A2 armoured recovery vehicles between 2024 and 2026, the Liberty Times said. The service warned that if the funds stay frozen it will not be able to procure the parts in time, which would hurt its ability to keep the equipment serviceable, and it urged the legislature to approve the release.

The two papers differ on the size of the first batch. The Liberty Times said 48 tanks delivered in 2024 have reached the end of their warranty, while the Taipei Times, its English-language sister paper, put the number at 38. Both reports agree that the first tanks arrived in 2024 and that their two-year warranty has now run out.

The tank parts are one of more than 150 requests to unfreeze defence ministry funds that are still waiting for the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, none of which has been approved, the Taipei Times reported. The central government's 2026 budget passed its third reading only on Aug. 14 after a record 351-day review, the Executive Yuan did not receive the approved budget until Sept. 17, and the committee has not scheduled a review since the new session opened on Sept. 29.

The committee's two conveners are Hsu Chiao-hsin of the opposition Kuomintang and Wang Yi-chuan of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Hsu said she sets the agenda for foreign affairs and overseas community matters and that questions about defence items should go to Wang, according to the Taipei Times. Wang said the schedule for ministry reports and unfreezing requests had been confirmed with agencies the previous week and that the items would be placed on the agenda in order.

Su Tzu-yun, who heads defence strategy and resources research at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told the Liberty Times that the delay would first hit military logistics and maintenance, and not only for the M1A2T but also for fighter aircraft components and missile repair parts. The later the orders are placed, the further back they fall in the queue, he said, leaving some equipment waiting for parts.

Su also warned that buying later could push prices up, as happened when exchange-rate changes raised the cost of the M1A2T purchase itself, forcing the ministry to report back to lawmakers again and delaying deliveries further in what he described as a vicious circle for readiness. He said Taiwan should also raise the share of domestically built weapons it buys, which would reduce its exposure to foreign arms sales.