By Ann Roosevelt
General Dynamics [GD] is concerned about a production break from about 2013 to 2015-16 between the current multi-year Abrams tank production and when modernization upgrades kick in–and the effect of that break on the industrial base, a company official said.
“We consider the tank industrial base a unique national treasure,” Mike Cannon, senior vice president of Ground Combat Systems, said in a recent interview. “We believe that we need to pay especially close attention to that base in order to preserve it…for current future and unforeseen needs.”
Additionally, since current contingencies are not heavily reliant on tanks, there’s not a big demand for spares, so there’s concern that supplier base may not be kept intact, he said.
The Army’s modernization program has prioritized capabilities to give soldiers the decisive edge in full spectrum operations while spending wisely in a period of fiscal constraint, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces yesterday.
The Army did a careful, thorough and “holistic” capability portfolio review of its combat vehicles, Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy chief of staff G-8, said in response to questions from Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) subcommittee ranking member.
“There are going to be shutdowns,” Lennox said. “In the Abrams line, for example, we’re going to finish in buying our acquisition limit of those vehicles; we’re buying the very finest M1s right now, the SEP version. We’ve got a very good strategy that addresses both the active and the reserve component. But there is some risk.”
Lt. Gen. William Phillips, military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology), said: “We share the concern with the industrial base.”
However, as the Army considers all the options available, it must proceed in “the most efficient, effective manner,” he said.
Cannon said General Dynamics is working with the service to see if some things could be pulled to the left or fill the gap by upgrading M1A2 System Enhanced Packages Version 1 to Version 2. Also, there are some 791 M1A1s still in the fleet that could be upgraded to M1A2, he said.
While the ideal would be a pure tank fleet consisting of a single type, Cannon said with a fleet of some 800 M1A1s that is a several billion dollar proposition.
The company and the service are working out a way forward that maintains the industrial base while allowing a cost effective future modernization program, he said.
As the upgrade program is hammered out, Abrams still has room for growth, Cannon said. The Army is focusing on space, weight and power. Power is of major interest because the tank in the future must receive more network capability and new radios.
On Feb. 25, the company was awarded a $19.8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Abrams System Technical Support that funds engineering studies on the Abrams to identify improvements and replace obsolete parts to maintain the tanks at high operational readiness rates. The work completes in December.
An area the Army has not addressed is the Abrams power train, Cannon said. General Dynamics, working on its own internal research and development funds, is examining integrating a new, modern diesel engine–a joint venture engine program with Honeywell [HON] and Anniston Army Depot–with another Allison transmission to give the Army the opportunity for fuel savings and a new engine. This would give Abrams “miles per gallon not gallons per mile,” he said.