- GENERAL DYNAMICS STARTS WORK ON ENHANCED TANK -

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - General Dynamics Land Systems started building the first of 240 system enhanced M1A2 Abrams tanks at the Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio.

Ten M1A2 tanks with the system enhancement package (SEP) will be delivered to the U.S. Army each month starting in August 1999 through July 2001 under a multiyear production contract.

The M1A2 SEP tank is the first ground combat system to contain an embedded version of the Army's Force XXI command and control architecture. Central to the system enhancement package design is the upgrade of the tank's vehicle electronics adding improved microprocessors and increased memory capacity. The M1A2 system enhancement package adds a new commander's display, an under armor auxiliary power unit, second generation forward looking infrared thermal sight, and thermal management system.

The tank commander's display unit is an active matrix liquid crystal high-resolution display for digital color terrain maps. The under armor auxiliary power unit allows the tank crew to maintain a continuous surveillance mode without running the tank's gas turbine engine reducing fuel consumption and operation and support costs. The second

generation forward looking infrared thermal sight significantly increases target detection, recognition, and identification ranges over the original M1A2 system. A thermal management system can maintain the internal crew environment at 88 to 95 degrees when the ambient temperature is as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

The M1A2 SEP builds off of the investment made by the U.S. Army in the early 1990s when the M1A2 was introduced as the Army's first digital software driven ground combat vehicle.

General Dynamics Land Systems employees at plants in Lima, Ohio; Eynon, Pennsylvania; Sterling Heights and Muskegon, Michigan; Tallahassee, Florida; and Anniston, Alabama, will perform this work.

General Dynamics Land Systems, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, is a world leader in the development, production, and support of land and amphibious combat vehicles. Its 3,500 employees operate plants and facilities in seven states and at three international locations. More information about General Dynamics Land Systems can be found on the Internet at www.gdls.com.

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LS-98-18
12-9-98