The CNBC has reported that the U.S. Defense Department is asking Congress for $718 billion in its fiscal 2020 budget, including $14.6 billion for ground combat systems.
The request includes a total 6,402 combat and tactical vehicles with a price tag of $7.2 billion.
According to a news report from the CNBC, Pentagon among other things is requesting $2.2 billion for 165 the M1 Abrams tank modifications.
The U.S. Army plans to invest a totally $6 billion in the “legendary M1 Abrams tank family.
“Over the next three years, we’re investing more than $6 billion in upgrades and modifications to these tanks,” President Trump said during the March 20 visit to the Lima, Ohio-based Joint Systems Manufacturing Center. “With the help of everyone in this room, we are giving our warriors the most effective, reliable and lethal battle tank in the history of war.”
The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, which is government-owned but operated by defense giant General Dynamics, got a huge boost earlier this year when the U.S. Army said it would spend $714 million to upgrade the M1A1 Abrams, the main battle tank used by the country’s armed forces.
With the bases version of Abrams tank, the latest M1A2 SEPv3 is now being mass produced at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima.
The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, or JSMC, is the only facility that produces the family of M1 Abrams tank and now begins mass-producing of latest M1A2 SEPv3 also know as M1A2C.
The newest version of the M1 Abrams tank is considered the most technologically advanced digital tank in the world with superior firepower, protection and mobility, Army’s officials said.
In a 2017 report, Maj. Gen. David Bassett, program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems said: “These vehicles are not just about assuring our allies, or deterring or coercing potential adversaries. They are about compelling our enemies and winning the multi-domain battle.”
