In a boost to a northwest Ohio tank plant, General Dynamics said last night it will use its Lima factory to help put together the U.S. Marine Corps' latest military attack vehicle.
Production of 1,000 advanced amphibious assault vehicles, which look like a tank but can be launched from ships and travel up to 25 miles in rough seas, is to start in late 2005.
The Lima tank plant will build the shell of the newly named Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles, but a General Dynamics plant in Virginia will add the engine and do other final assembly work.
The contract should retain the 500 workers at the Allen County plant and possibly add some jobs, but the factory had hoped to receive the nod to do the vehicle's final assembly, said Peter Keating, General Dynamics spokesman. He added that probably would have increased employement.
Still, he said, the area plant should not be disappointed.
“It puts the Lima plant in a good position to do more work for the Army,” he said, noting that the Army is considering a whole new fleet of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles for which a prototype production contract could be awarded in about two years.
Lima workers were hopeful that a visit to the plant four months ago by President Bush might bolster their chances of landing the amphibious tank contract. Neither workers nor their union representatives could be reached for comment last night.
Mr. Keating said the assembly work was awarded to the Virginia factory because Lima did not have the best facilities to conduct water testing.
The first models of the new vehicle should be ready by 2006, and the work is expected to produce 200 to 120 vehicles a year, finishing in 2018.
General Dynamics has a $712 million contract for the work, which began two years ago with the go-ahead to build nine prototypes.
The tank, which will replace a 30-year old model, is to have a crew of three and be able to transport 17 Marines, and travel at speeds of 20 knots in the water and 45 miles per hour on land. It has a range of 65 miles in water and 400 miles on land.
The Lima plant currently rebuilds M1A1 tanks and makes the M1A2 tanks, Stryker Army vehicles, and a collapsible bridge system that sits atop a tank.
First Published August 27, 2003, 10:48 a.m.
