U.S. Army Eyes Foreign Sales To Maintain Tank Production

[Kunal Biswas]

U.S. Army Eyes Foreign Sales To Maintain Tank Production

The U.S. Army is hoping foreign sales will be sufficient to keep tank factories up and running until the Army needs them again in 2017.

At a Feb. 17 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, told lawmakers the service is being aggressive in its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, with the hope that foreign buys will fill in any production gaps caused by the Army's plans.

The Army says its M1 Abrams tank fleet is in good shape and it will not need to refurbish its current tanks until after 2017. This leaves a gap in work for the General Dynamics Land Systems production facility in Lima, Ohio.

At a minimum, the factory needs to build seven tanks a year to stay open.

This "is far beyond not just our fiscal ability, but is far beyond our need," Army Secretary John McHugh told the congressional panel.

Odierno said it would cost the Army $2.8 billion to keep the production plant open between 2014 and 2017.

"Our tank fleet is in good shape," the four-star said. "Because of the great support we've gotten over the last few years, we don't need to reset before 2017."

Odierno and McHugh did not name which countries may be interested in buying Abrams tanks.

The Army first asked to halt its buy of Abrams tanks in the 2012 budget request. However, it lost the fight and Congress provided an additional $255 million to buy 42 more M1 Abrams tanks in the budget.

The Army maintains that a temporary shutdown would result in savings for the government, while the company and several members of Congress say it would cost more to shut it down and reopen it than to just keep it open during that same time period.

"How can the Army be sure that the production lines, and particularly the skilled workers, are going to be there after such a lengthy shutdown?" Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, asked.

McHugh said the Army is concerned about the same issue and is working with the Defense Department to identify where the most acute vulnerabilities are in the industrial base.

He said DoD is conducting a study that looks at every tier and every sector of the defense industrial base, with the goal of finding a way to address these problems jointly, rather than each service going it alone.

"We're willing to pursue any reasonable path to ensure that those particularly critical jobs remain vibrant," McHugh said.

U.S. Army Eyes Foreign Sales To Maintain Tank Production | Defense News | defensenews.com

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Odierno and McHugh did not name which countries may be interested in buying Abrams tanks.

Any suggestions from DFI members?

 

[indian_sukhoi]

The Army didnt lost Abrams in huge numbers nor they have requirements to induct

Sir, Not many countries interested to buying them. They might close the plant till 2017!!

Egypt may place an order to replace the Patton and T-62s inventory. Although Egypt got Home grown Logistics support but cannot produce Tank Engines.

They have to rely on US Factories to send assembly kits

Egypt Orders More M1A1 Tanks

In the modern era, Egypt was a Soviet client for a long time, and its arsenals still contain their share of Soviet weaponry. Military assistance relations took a sharp turn for the worse in the early 1970s, and the country has used the US military aid program that accompanied the 1979 Camp David Accords to replace much of that equipment with American items.
Egypt Orders More M1A1 Tanks

 

[Damian]

Several things to clear put.

1) US have overall fleet of M1 tanks in quantity of ~8,725 tanks. US Army have currently all it's active fleet made of one variant, the newest M1A2SEP v2 in quantity of ~1,547+ tanks, ARNG have a mixed fleet of ~800+ M1A1SA, older M1A1 variants (Heavy Armor ones) and is also recived some M1A2SEP v2 tanks for maybe one or two brigades. USMC have approx ~174 tanks in it's 3 active tank battalions, each battalion have 58 tanks (in Army, ARNG and USMC structure).

So indeed currently there is no urgent need to modernize these tanks in bigger quantities, especially that any armor upgrades can be done on unit level in maintnance depot, only deeper modernization or repair process is needed to be done in ANAD or JSMC.

Also remember that JSMC is not without reason named that way, JSMC means Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, and there are not only tanks manufactured, repaired and modernized there, also family of Stryker vehicles and some variants of MRAPs manufactured by GDLS. So there is absolutely no way that JSMC will be completely shut down, only tanks production line will be freezed for some time (of course is this plan will have a green light).

2) We also need to remember about foreing users. Egypt is currently biggest after US user of M1 tanks, currently it have 1,005 + 125 on order, M1A1 tanks, all of them were manufactured in US in form of knowck down kits and then assembled in Egypt (Factory 200 near Cairo). These 125 new tanks will be manufactured up to 2014. As we also known, this is long time to come, plans and economic situation can change during this period of time. Also Egyptians are not manufacturing spare parts, so US need to do this.

Also Egypt have plans to upgrade this tanks in to M1A2 standard, and this is deep upgrade needed to be done in JSMC, imagine how much work will be to be done with 1,130 tanks.

Saudi Arabia have currently ~373 M1A2 tanks, and guess what, they are upgrading them to M1A2S standard, so some more work for JSMC. Also spare parts are needed.

Kuwait have 218 M1A2 tanks, it is not immposible that Kuwait will order upgrade for them.

Iraq have 140 M1A1M tanks, upgrades are not needed right now but spae parts yes.

Australia have 59 M1A1SA tanks, Australia is currently recivieng ordered TUSK kits and also is needed spare parts, also because of good economic situations it is not immposible that Australia will order another 58-59 tanks to have full brigade, not only one battalion/regiment.

PS. Also remember that west European heavy tracked combat vehicles industry is in reality non existing, only Germany still have some capabilities (France due to financial problems with Nexter and the fact that nobody is interested with Leclerc, and UK because all factories capable to manufacture MBT's were closed), but far from these of US. You know that JSMC in a peace time could manufacture ~600 tanks per year? Imagine what they can do in war time. And this is only one factory, up to 1996 there was also factory in Detroit, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and there is still ANAD or Anniston Army Depot that also can be reconfigured from repair/disassemble facility to production facility.