GDLS to upgrade more Abrams for US Army
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has received a $714 million delivery order from the US Army to upgrade an additional 174 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks to the M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 (SEPv3) configuration, the company announced on 8 January.
The order is part of a contract signed in December 2017, under which the US Army can upgrade up to 435 M1A1 Abrams tanks to the M1A2 SEPv3 configuration. This order brings the total of M1A2 SEPv3 tanks ordered by the army in 2018 to 274.
The upgraded M1A2 SEPv3 configuration has improved communications and networking capabilities, additional electrical power from an auxiliary power unit, upgraded armour, an ammo data link to interface with advanced ammunition and reduced maintenance requirements.
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