US Army Puts More Tanks in the Pacific Theater to Counter China

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.