General Dynamics [GD] Land Systems recently said it has been awarded $132.7 million for the procurement and production of 69 Saudi M1A2 (M1A2S) Abrams tanks for Saudi Arabia.
This work is part of a plan by Saudi Arabia to upgrade its entire fleet of tanks, which numbers some 314.
The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract was awarded by the Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for the Royal Saudi Land Forces.
This contract extends work started in 2008 to update M1A1 and M1A2 tanks to the M1A2S configuration for Saudi Arabia. The M1A2S conversion increases the efficiency and capability of the tank.
In 2011, TACOM issued two contracts with a combined total of $42.4 million providing for the completion of 102 M1A2S configured tanks in 2012.
The work under this new contract will be done by current employees at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2014.
“Additional funding, combined with projected Foreign Military Sales, including an award announced recently for $133 million to continue an existing contract to update tanks to the M1A2S configuration for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will serve to sustain continued production and protect U.S. jobs,” the company said in a statement. Until funding is approved by the Defense Appropriations Committee, General Dynamics can’t speculate about the impact on jobs in 2014 and beyond, it added.