The M1A1 Abrams has a crew of four, including driver, commander, gunner and loader. The main cannon of the Egyptian M1A1 is also produced license in Egypt. The first version of the M1 Abrams was armed with one 105mm canon, while the M1A1 is armed with one 120 mm smoothbore M256 armament equipped with a muzzle reference system to measure the bend of the gun tube. The first batch consisted of 555 vehicles and final deliveries under this program were completed in 1998. Egypt was the first export customer for the M1 MBT who selected the M1A1 variant. government in partnership with EgyptĪmerican Company, General Dynamics Land Systems began delivering the first of 299 FY90 M1A1 MBTs to U.S. Part of the United States’ $1.3 billion annual commitment to supporting Egypt’s security, the resumption of co-production manufacturing of M1A1 Abrams tanks is the most recent step taken by the U.S. Through this program, the Tank Plant provides jobs for over 2500 Egyptians and supports the capacity of the Egyptian Armed Forces to defend the country. support for Egypt’s crucial role as a factor of security and stability in the region. The manufacturing of M1A1s in Egypt is a key part of ongoing U.S. On October 25, 2011, Egypt and the United States celebrated the resumption of co-production of M1A1 Abrams Tanks at a ceremony held at the Egyptian Tank Plant outside of Cairo. Initially, the plan would was estimated to eventually shift 40% of the tank's production to Egypt to save money by taking advantage of the low cost of Egyptian labor. The program and the plan for the construction of the co-production facility were advanced by Field Marshal Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala as a way for Egypt to save money on the procurement of M1 Abrams main battle tanks while concurrently developing its own defense industrial base.

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