General Dynamics awarded a contract to produce M1A2S main battle tank for Saudi Arabia 0304135

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Defence & Security News - General Dynamics
 
 
Wednesday, April 3, 2013, 11:16 AM
 
General Dynamics awarded a contract to produce M1A2S main battle tank for Saudi Arabia.
General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded an additional $40 million for the procurement and production of Saudi M1A2 (M1A2S) Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This modification is part of an existing contract to upgrade the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s fleet of tanks.
     
General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded an additional $40 million for the procurement and production of Saudi M1A2 (M1A2S) Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This modification is part of an existing contract to upgrade the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s fleet of tanks.
General Dynamics M1A2S main battle tank of Saudi Arabia armed forces.
     

The Foreign Military Sales contract was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command on behalf of the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

This contract extends work started in 2008 to update M1A1 and M1A2 tanks to the M1A2S configuration for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The M1A2S conversion increases the efficiency and capability of the tank.

The M1A2S is an upgraded variant of the US Army and Marine Corps M1A1 MBT, the M1A2 Abrams tank is designed to engage and attack enemy forces using enhanced firepower, manoeuvrability and shock effect.

Due to heavy exterior armour, the tank offers enhanced protection to a crew of four, and also features a gunners primary sight (GPS), new Block I 2nd generation forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology, eye-safe laser range finder, as well as a blue force tracking (BFT) system for enhanced effectiveness in the battlefield.

Equipped with manually loaded 120mm M256 smooth bore cannon, the tank is capable of firing a multitude of different rounds, such as M865 TPCSDS-T and M831 TP-T training ammunition against enemy armoured vehicles, soldiers and low-flying aircraft

The work will be performed by current employees at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2014.