Tank plant in small Ohio city plays big role in Ukraine war
LIMA, Ohio — Thousands of miles from the front lines, a sprawling manufacturing plant in the small midwestern city of Lima, Ohio, is playing a critical role in the effort to arm Ukraine as it fends off the Russian invasion.
Owned by the Army and operated by General Dynamics, the plant is expected to refurbish Abrams tanks for the U.S. to send to Ukraine, and is already preparing to build an updated version of the vehicle for Poland, U.S. Army officials said Thursday as they toured the facility.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, who walked through the plant with a number of other Army leaders and senior officers, said it’s highly likely the plant will provide the tanks for Ukraine.
“We’re still looking at options for exactly what variant of tanks will be provided to the Ukrainians. I think there’s still a little bit to be worked out, but certainly, the tanks being built here in Lima are central,” she said.
An Associated Press reporter was allowed to accompany Wormuth on the tour, the first journalist to walk the production lines since the U.S. pledged Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
U.S. officials have declined to provide details about the Abrams that will eventually go to Ukraine, saying they have to decide whether to send refurbished older Army tanks, Marine tanks or some other version. But in most cases, the tanks would need upgrades at the Lima plant before being shipped to Ukraine’s battlefront.
“Part of it is figuring out — among the different options — what’s the best one that can allow us to get the Ukrainians tanks in as timely a fashion as we can,” without disrupting foreign military sales, Wormuth said.
Officials said Thursday that production totals at the plant — which is formally called Joint Systems Manufacturing Center-lima — vary, based on contract demands. And while the plant is currently building 15-20 armored vehicles per month — including tanks — it can easily boost that to 33 a month and could add another shift of workers and build even more if needed.
Wormuth said the timeline on sending Abrams to Ukraine depends on whether the U.S. takes tanks from existing American military training stocks or from Army units, which would be less desirable because it could affect their readiness to fight. And the development of tanks for Ukraine would also have to be squeezed in between the current contracts for foreign sales, which include 250 of the newest versions for Poland and about 75 for Australia.
In a dramatic reversal, the Biden administration announced in January that it will send 31 M1A2 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
Ukrainian leaders have pressed for the Abrams, which first deployed to war in 1991 and has thick armor, a 120 mm main gun, armor-piercing capabilities and advanced targeting systems. It runs on thick tracked wheels and has a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine with a top speed of about 42 miles per hour.
As she walked the production lanes in the 25-acre building, Wormuth got to see the newest version of the Abrams as it transformed from an empty steel hull into a shiny, newly painted tank — a process that takes 18 to 24 months. The U.S. doesn’t build new tanks from scratch. It has a fleet of about 2,500 Abrams, and takes older tanks, tears them down and and uses the empty hull as a starting point to build a new one. Some hulls have been refurbished multiple times.
Roughly 800 people work at the plant, which is spread across 369 acres in northwest Ohio. Its 1.6 million square feet of manufacturing space is the only place where the M1A2 Abrams is made. About 45 percent of the workers are focused on the tank, but the plant also churns out Stryker armored vehicles, tank support vehicles and some other equipment.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Wormuth said the Army will invest about $558 million into improvements at the plant over the next 15 years. Some of those include expanded use of robotics.