A reported plan by the army to purchase M1A2 main battle tanks and AH-64D Longbow attack helicopters from the US was yesterday criticized by military analysts as a "crazy idea."
"It is incredible that the army would want to buy a huge tank like the M1A2. The M1A2 is totally unsuitable for Taiwan. It is best suited to operations on terrain such as desert and plain. Taiwan does not have much open space for the tank to operate," said Keven Cheng (
"The army seems still to be thinking that it is likely to have a tank battle on Taiwan proper with its Chinese counterpart in the event of a war in the Taiwan Strait. It is time for them to wake up from this unrealistic dream," Cheng said.
"By the time the Chinese army is able to land tanks on Taiwan, the war will be almost over. The landing of tanks will not be possible if the Chinese military has not gained control of the air and sea and Taiwan's coastal defenses have not collapsed," he said.
Cheng made the remarks yesterday as he commented on media reports that Taiwan's army is to put M1A2 tanks and AH-64D helicopters on its weapon purchase list for this year's arms talks between Taiwan and the US. The arms talks are to take place in April.
Reports in the Chinese-language press said yesterday that any request for these two types of weapon system -- among high-technology items still in service with the US military, which the US usually will not consider selling to Taiwan -- would be "a daring move" by the army.
Although the chances of the US approving sales of the two weapons systems are relatively low, the army is reported to be planning to request them in the upcoming arms talks in order to "try its luck." Cheng said it was not a smart idea to buy either the M1A2 or the AH-64D helicopter no matter how powerful they could be.
"The army already has AH-1Ws in service. These helicopters have only become operational recently. It is impossible for the army to operate two types of new attack helicopter at the same time. Their maintenance systems are quite different from each other," Cheng said.
"The supply of pilots is also a problem. The army is currently short of sufficient pilots to keep all of its helicopters in normal operation," he said.
RSS