General Dynamics Land Systems has drawn two new orders from the U.S. Army to upgrade critical combat vehicle programs, the M1A1 Abrams main battle tank and Stryker armored fighting vehicle. The total award has been reported to exceed $450 million.
According to the first award the General Dynamics unit will upgrade 100 M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks to the M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 (SEPv3) configuration. This order is part of a contract the Army extended in December 2017 under which it can upgrade up to 435 M1A1 Abrams tanks to the new configuration, which brings advanced communications and upgraded armor.
This award is estimated to be worth $193 million and will be carried out at Land Systems locations in Scranton, Pa., and Tallahassee, Fla., and at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio.
The second award to Land Systems is a $258-million contract modification for upgrading 116 Stryker vehicles to the A1 configuration. The Stryker is an eight-wheeled armored vehicle fitted with 105 mm M68A2 gun; 50-caliber M2 machine gun; 40-mm Mk 19 grenade launcher, or 30-mm Mk44 Bushmaster II gun. The Stryker A1 includes a "combat-proven Double-V Hull" to increase the vehicles’ survivability versus mines and improvised explosive devices
The Stryker A1 also brings a 450-hp engine, a new 60,000-lb. suspension, 910-amp alternator, and a new in-vehicle network.
The work on this project will be performed at Lima, Ohio, Anniston, Ala., and Sterling Heights, Mich., with a completion date estimated as March 2020.
