U.S. to sell General Dynamics tanks to Australia

Missileer

Active member
Please be careful with the Commander's Independant Thermal Viewer on these babies. I'm running out of parts for them and GDLS doesn't have any either. I've never said this before but you're getting one helluva MBT.


WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Monday said it planned to sell 59 General Dynamics Corp. (nyse: GD - news - people) M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management tanks and related equipment to Australia in a deal valued at up to $475 million.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it notified Congress about the deal on Friday, giving lawmakers 30 days in which to block the deal -- a move considered highly unlikely.

Under the deal, Australia would buy 59 tanks, 7 M88A1 medium recovery vehicles, 80 AN/VRC-92F dual long-range Single Channel Ground and Air Radio Systems, 146 night vision goggles, 73 M2 machine guns, and other equipment.

DSCA said the proposed sale would aid U.S. national security by helping improve Australia's security and enhancing its ability to operate jointly with U.S. Army and Marine Corps units for the next 25 years.

The M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tank is manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems, a unit of the Falls Church, Virginia-based company.

Other countries that operate the M1A1 Abrams tanks are Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
 
sandy said:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/11/gd-receives-final-416m-delivery-order-for-australian-m1a1-tanks/index.php

Here.
But why they don,t choice Leopald2?
I know M1A1 as good tank,but they have Leo1a3 now.

IMO politics was a big factor why they chose the Abrams over the Leo 2.
 
phoenix80 said:
Other countries that operate the M1A1 Abrams tanks are Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

what a failed list!

There are dozens of other NATO and Asian countries using this tank!

No it is only these countries using the M1A1 as well. maybe your thinking of the M60 which was in service with a lot more countries. Most european countries use the leopard 1/2 or T-72/-55. As for asian countries i know less about what tanks are used there.
 
sandy said:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/11/gd-receives-final-416m-delivery-order-for-australian-m1a1-tanks/index.php

Here.
But why they don,t choice Leopald2?
I know M1A1 as good tank,but they have Leo1a3 now.

I'll bet you it has a lot to do with the fact that the M1 series of tanks has been involved in 2 full-on wars and multiple "peace keeping" actions while the Leopard 2 is not battle tested. There is a lot to be said for a tank that has been shot at with everything from every angle and still dishes out all the punnishment of Zeus himself.
 
While it's not absolutely necessary, it would be nice if most MBTs in a joint mission were alike for ease of depot and field repair, spare parts, less people needed to maintain, fire the same ammo, there are a lot of reasons to go into battle with interchangable weapons.
 
Politics may have played a part but also the recent "field tests" in Iraq have proven their worth for all those who had doubts before and I am sure it played a part as well. Missileer also brings up a very important and often overlooked point of supply, repair and maintainence among allies in joint operations.
 
Japan tried to import the M1A1 or leo2 for a certain period of time.
but,new type tanks(type-90)was under developping&They are too heavy to use in Japan.
Anymore ,Import price was too expensive.
 
3 Main reasons why we got them.

1: We got a deal that couldn't be beaten by Leopard 2. We got all the infrastructure related to the tanks, massive spares backlog, plant equipment and recovery and transport vehicles at way below cost.

2: We can train our crews to use the Abrams class tank, they can then operate US Tanks overseas, allowing us to deploy crews, but not have to deploy the tanks.

3: In terms of repairs etc, etc, etc, they are able to be serviced by US mechanics, and they can supply parts to us in a combat zone... and vice versa. Our RAEME mechs can work on US tanks, and we can supply parts to them if need be.
 
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