US Approves Sale of 56000 Rounds for Egypt’s M1A1 Tanks

The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Egypt of  46,000 M831A1 and M865 rounds and 10,000 APFSDS-T rounds for an estimated cost of $99 million.

The Government of Egypt has requested to buy forty-six thousand (46,000) 120MM Target Practice – Tracer (M831A1) and 120MM Target Practice, Cone Stabilized, Discarding Sabot – (M865) rounds and ten thousand (10,000) 120MM 4th-Generation Kinetic Energy-Tungsten (KE-W) A4 Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot with Tracer (APFSDS-T) rounds.

Also included are four thousand five hundred (4,500) 120MM Insensitive Munitions High Explosive with Tracer (IM HE-T) tank rounds, field implementation, testing inspections, spares and repair parts, support and test equipment, field support publications and technical data, U.S. government and contractor engineering and logistics support services, personnel training and training equipment, quality assurance team support services, preparation of ammunition for shipment, ammunition delivery, component improvement program and repair, other associated equipment and support, and other related elements of logistical and program support.  The estimated cost is $99 million.

The proposed sale will improve Egypt's capability to meet current and future threats and provide greater security for its critical infrastructure.  Egypt will use the 120MM IM HE-T cartridges to maintain a strategic munitions inventory for its M1A1 tank fleet and in support of operations against militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Sinai.

They will use the target practice rounds to train M1A1 crews in proper crew procedures in a training environment using munitions that cost a fraction of tactical rounds and have nearly zero explosive or penetrating capability.

Egypt has been producing this type of ammunition under an existing co-production agreement for approximately 15 years.  Egypt intends to use the APFSDS-T rounds to replace older model 120MM KE-W, KE-W Al, and KE-W A2 ammunition to maintain a strategic munitions inventory for its M1A1 tank fleet.  Egypt will have no difficulty absorbing these munitions into its armed forces.

The prime contractor involved in this program is General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, St. Petersburg, FL. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.