By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
At first glance, 70-ton Abrams tanks may seem ill-suited for the Pacific theater given its known challenges with mobility, expeditionary operations, mobilization and deployment. The vast ocean areas, island passageways and simple distance between points of interest are such that it might not seem feasible to operate heavy armor, tanks or other mechanized forces with any kind of timeliness or efficiency.
However … Upon a more extensive examination of a handful of key variables of great relevance to the Pacific, the prospect of adding tanks to the region may not be ill-advised at all but rather critical to ensuring long-term stability in the Indo-Pacific.
“I believe that you need the entire inventory of combined arms ground maneuver in order to fight in restricted terrain. Tank and armor capabilities in the Pacific are absolutely necessary for conducting operations out here in restricted terrain. And there is plenty of restricted terrain out here,” General Charles Flynn, Commanding General, US Army Pacific, told reporters recently, according to a transcript provided by the Army.
In a clear, simple sense, US Army tanks are getting lighter and easier to deploy and joint armor transport assets capable of moving heavy armor across the sea are rapidly expanding as well. The weight of the Abrams is quickly decreasing, a trajectory matched by a rapid increase in joint expeditionary transport capacity. The Army’s new Abrams variant, to be called the M1E3 Abrams, will be much lighter, faster and more fuel efficient than existing Abrams. Added to this equation, the Pentagon has in recent years been adding new, high-tech methods of force, weapons and platform transport across maritime and amphibious environments. The Navy’s new SSC Ship-to-Shore Connector Landing Craft, for instance, can transport Abrams tanks from ship-to-shore for amphibious attacks or ground reinforcement. Added to this, the Navy’s growing fleet of Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels are also massively improving the ability of a joint force to transport and deploy tanks across vast swaths of ocean into island and coastal areas as needed. The Navy’s fleet of Expeditionary Fast Transport ships has been growing quickly in recent years and each vessel can transport 600 tons of cargo. This means the Navy ships could easily transport 5 or 6 Abrams tanks on a single boat at high speeds moving tanks from one land location or island to another.
Also, not to be forgotten, the Army continues to operate an impactful number of its own tank-transporting watercraft based in Hawaii, Okinawa Japan and Toykyo. Watercraft were used recently, for instance, to transport tanks for the large-scale US-Australia Talisman Sabre combat exercise. As part of this, Flynn explained that the US is building a new composite watercraft company in Japan capable of building and operating greater numbers of tank-transporting watercraft.
Flynn was also clear that integrated land power connecting the US with key allies such as the Philippines, Australia and Korea offers an optimal opportunity for multinational cooperation.
“Going all the way back to World War II, tanks have been an important part of the Combined Arms force out here (the Pacific)….. a number of nations in the region have tanks, they have armored divisions. The Philippine Army is a good example……Australia just purchased M-1 tanks. And we trained with the Australian Army in Talisman Sabre with their newly arrived M-1s,” Flynn said.
Flynn even said Army watercraft helped move tanks from Australia to Indonesia for additional exercises.
“In my view, the security architecture that actually binds this region together is the Army. These nations have large armies. They don’t have large navies and air forces, but they have large armies. And the dialogue and the relationships and the rehearsals and the readiness that we gain and the interoperability increases that we gain is of enormous value,” Flynn said.
There are several tactical scenarios in which tanks could prove critical in any combat engagement in the Pacific, particularly if they could more easily deploy and be transported. Should China, for instance, succeed in quickly annexing Taiwan, a massive combined Japanese, US and Korean land Army would likely be needed to extricate an occupying PLA force from the island. While advanced sea, air and undersea power might succeed in winning a combat engagement, terrain will likely still need to be “held” and “occupied” and “secured” by land forces.
“Nations in this region are reliant on their large armies, and their large armies are designed to protect and defend their national sovereignty and their territorial integrity. And so there is a natural tendency to look at the map and think you can solve this with air and maritime power alone. And my fact or my thinking on this is that the land power network and armies out here are essential part of the solution,” Flynn said.
Of course Flynn and others are by no means discounting the merits of forward-positioned warships and ocean-launched 5th-generation airpower, but simply emphasizing that a greater presence of tanks and heavier mechanized forces might not only deter China but prove decisive in the event of conflict in the region.
“In my view, the security architecture that actually binds this region together is the Army. These nations have large armies. They don’t have large navies and air forces, but they have large armies. And the dialogue and the relationships and the rehearsals and the readiness that we gain and the interoperability increases that we gain is of enormous value,” Flynn added.
Army Watercraft
US Navy amphibious assault ships, Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels and emerging new amphib-launched ship-to-shore connectors are all fast-increasing methods of moving heavy armor through maritime war environments including islands, coastal areas and even large countries.
Beneath the more visible threshold of these well-known, modern tank-transporting platforms and technologies, the Army is fast-expanding its own maritime expeditionary capability in the form of new watercraft. These new composite watercraft are intended to support the joint force with equipment and troop transport, weapons and platforms for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
New Navy Textron-built ship-to-shore connectors (SSC) extend sea-land attack beyond the Landing Craft Air Cushions they are replacing by introducing the ability to move Abrams tanks from ship-to-shore from large, off-shore amphibs into coastal and island areas for decisive land attack. The size and scope of the People’s Liberation Army, for instance, is likely driving a Pentagon requirement to operate greater numbers of tanks and heavy armor in the Pacific, provided they can be transported.
In support of this effort, the Army will be massively expanding its watercraft fleet in the Pacific to, in large measure, strengthen deterrence and support forward war operations in the event of conflict, Gen. Charles Flynn, Commanding General, US Army Pacific, told reporters recently according to an Army provided transcript.
“We have Army watercraft permanently stationed here in Hawaii. We have Army watercraft stationed forward in Japan, in Yokohama North Docks. Of course, we have a couple of piers there in Yokohama North Docks in Tokyo Harbor. We also have a couple of piers down in Naha, down in Okinawa. Those Army watercraft are used routinely out here in the Pacific to move joint capabilities,” Flynn said.
Building upon this, Flynn also said that early work is now underway on a new composite watercraft construction company to be based in and operated out of Japan.
“We announced thi
s earlier, but there’s a composite watercraft company, one of our modernized watercraft companies that’s going to be stationed in Japan. It will begin arriving–and some of the people are arriving now, and that will be built up between ‘23, ’24, and early ‘25. That’s a 280-man composite watercraft company. So now we’ll have an active watercraft company in Japan, Yokohama North Docks, with 13 vessels.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – the Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
