General Dynamics wins $18 million contract for Saudi Arabia tank program

General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded $17.6 million for the purchase of long-lead materials that will be used to convert 15 M1A2 Abrams tanks to M1A2S tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The contract was awarded to General Dynamics by the U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command for the Royal Saudi Land Forces. The contract is an addition to a $58 million 2008 award to General Dynamics to design, develop, convert, implement and test a hybrid configuration of the M1A1, M1A2 and M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) tank variants. The M1A2S vehicles will possess defined capabilities that increase lethality while limiting obsolescence. The work will be performed at the Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2012.