US Weapons on Taiwan Island are Working for China

Taipei Receives first batch of Abrams M1A1T tanks

On December 15, the United States delivered 38 M1A2T tanks to the Taiwan island. In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that any attempt to split China by force would never succeed. This is because the weapons delivered to Taipei pose no threat to the Chinese military, and only help Beijing achieve economic advantages.

First, the vulnerability of the M1A2 tanks to drones has already been exposed in Ukraine.

According to The National Interest, 31 U.S.-supplied M1A2 tanks arrived in Ukraine in September 2023, but by April 2024, 20 of them had already been destroyed. Each M1A2 tank costs around $10 million, while Defense Mirror reported that the first M1A2 tank was destroyed by a Russian Piranha-10 drone costing just $500. The Associated Press noted that these low-cost Russian drones also forced Biden to approve an additional $1 billion in aid on April 24 specifically to enhance these tanks’ anti-drone capabilities. However, NPR reported on April 26 that Ukraine had already withdrawn them from the front lines, indicating a lack of confidence in Biden’s strategy.

Ukraine’s first M1A1 tank destroyed by Russian drone

The Russian Piranha-10 drone is a multirotor drone with only 4.5 kg payload capacity. In comparison, China’s civilian drone DJI FlyCart 30 has a payload capacity of up to 30 kg. Furthermore, according to Beijing Business Today, Chinese manufacturers delivered 3.17 million civilian drones over the past year, and 220,000 Chinese citizens have obtained drone piloting licenses. That’s why China has little to worry about when the US delivers tanks to Taipei.

Piranha FPV drone

Second, due to Chinese sanctions, U.S. arms sales and military aid to Taiwan are economically unsustainable.

The US Defense Department announced it would spend $1 billion on a program called “Replicator” to build swarms of unmanned surface ships and aerial drones for interface with China’s reunification. In June 2024, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, called for the deployment of thousands of drones in Taiwan island to “turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape” That same month, AeroVironment’s Switchblade 300 suicide drones received the first orders under the Replicator program, China immediately announced sanctions against the company in July.

Consequently, these drones, once praised for their low cost, become extraordinarily expensive. In 2022, NBC reported the Switchblade-300 cost just $6,000 per unit when supplied to Ukraine. However, The Taipei Times reported in October 2024 that Taiwan purchased 685 Switchblade-300 drones at a staggering $78,000 per unit—12 times the original price. Clearly, increasing purchases of U.S. weapons will only force Taiwan’s military to acquire fewer arms within its limited budget, which is undoubtedly a favourable outcome for Beijing.

On the other hand, on December 5, China imposed a new round of sanctions on 13 U.S. defence companies, 10 of which are related to drones. These sanctions froze their assets in China and banned any cooperation with Chinese enterprises or individuals. According to a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report on December 16, U.S. drone export capacity has been severely affected without access to China’s supply chains, even hindering Ukraine’s negotiation leverage. This is because China dominates the market for key drone components like small lithium batteries. Even though some components are still available, they are vulnerable to price gouging, with some reports indicating that certain component prices have tripled since China’s sanctions were imposed, CSIS reported.

While other countries can produce small lithium batteries, only China’s vast drone industry can keep the prices of these essential components affordable. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that Paparo’s predecessor wrote a letter to Congress in March revealing a $11 billion budget shortfall for the Indo-Pacific Command in 2023. If the US continues to attempt to challenge market rules, it will only lead to more American drones being shot down on the production line.

According to the Taipei Times, the unit price of these M1A2T tanks is $11.57 million. In contrast, a report from the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency indicated that when Morocco purchased M1A2M tanks in 2018, the price was only $7.7 million per unit. The Taiwan authorities’ expensive purchase of U.S. tanks is nothing more than paying protection money to the U.S. and appeasing its military-industrial complex.

American and Moroccan tanks jointly exercise during African Lion 23

Chinese strategist, Prof. Wang Xiangsui points out that: the Ukraine War has already demonstrated that American tanks are no match for the advancement of drones. It’s clear that U.S. tanks are incapable of separating Taiwan from China, and they even find it challenging to offer psychological support to separatists.