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The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, also known as the Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP) is a tank plant located in
Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...
. It is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility currently operated by
General Dynamics Land Systems General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is an American manufacturer of military vehicles, including tanks and light Armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicles. The company is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and is a subsidiary of Gen ...
. Workers at the plant are represented by UAW Local 2075.


History


1940s

In May 1942 construction began for Lima Army Tank Plant to manufacture centrifugally cast gun tubes in the steel
foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
. This manufacturing method was rendered obsolete, so the army converted it to a tank depot for modifying and processing combat vehicles for export and domestic shipping. In November 1942, a GM subsidiary, United Motors Services, took over operation of the plant to process vehicles under government contract. The plant prepared many vehicles for Europe, including the
M5 light tank The M3 Stuart/light tank M3, was a US light tank of World War II, first entered service in the British Army in early 1941 and saw action in the North African campaign in July 1941. Later an improved version of the tank entered service as the M ...
and the
M26 Pershing The M26 Pershing is a heavy tank, later designated as a medium tank, formerly used by the United States Army. It was used in the last months of World War II during the Western Allied invasion of Germany, Invasion of Germany and extensively dur ...
tank.


1950s

After World War II, as the Lima Ordnance Depot, the plant served as a receiving and long-term storage facility for returning combat vehicles. During the Korean War, the plant modified and prepared tanks for shipment.


1970s

In 1976, the army selected Chrysler's design for what would become the Abrams tank, and designated the Lima plant, operated by Chrysler, to initially build the tank. The army pressured Chrysler, in financial difficulty, to form a subsidiary, Chrysler Defense, to hold and protect the tank contract from potential bankruptcy proceedings.


1980s

In February 1980, the first
M1 Abrams The M1 Abrams () is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heavies ...
rolled out of LATP. After a contract the plant began producing the Abrams at a rate of 30 a month. Chrysler subsequently sold the Defense subsidiary to
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...
in 1982. In January 1985, the last M1 rolled off the assembly line, and in October, production began on the improved M1 (IPM1). The plant later manufactured the M1A1, with the first pilot vehicle built in August 1985. The M1A1 was produced at a rate of 120 a month.


1990s

General Dynamics transferred some of the tank maintenance operations to Lima Army Tank Plant when it ended operations at the
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant Detroit Arsenal (DTA), formerly Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (DATP) was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, the plant was owned by the U.S. government ...
in December 1996.


2000s

In June 2004 the facility was renamed the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center (JSMC) to reflect the decision to manufacture the
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) (formerly known as the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV)) was an amphibious assault vehicle developed by General Dynamics during the 1990s and 2000s for use by the US Marine Corps. It would ha ...
for the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
there. Despite the name change, the plant is still incorrectly referred to as the "Lima Army Tank Plant", although the plant now services all five branches of the US Armed Forces and is now controlled by the Department of Defense, rather than just the army.


2010s


Proposed closure

The Army currently has no plans of permanently closing the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, JSMC. However, Army officials planned to end U.S. Army tank production at the JSMC between 2015 and 2016 due to the U.S. Army having built the projected number of tanks needed to properly supplement U.S. ground forces, given the current Army Force Structure (which dictates how many vehicles the U.S. Army requires for both active and reserve units; as well as, contingency storage in case additional vehicles are needed in time of war). In 2011, the U.S. Army was able to convince Congress that it still required further tank production, so in 2013, the United States Congress funded the production of additional tanks. These additional tanks however are currently slated to be put into storage until a time the U.S. Army requires them to supplement their forces. This latest Congressional order specifies the creation of ~200 "brand new" tanks to be placed in reserve storage, in accordance to the U.S. Army reducing its strategic number of tanks required for active duty. This supplemented number of new tanks is in addition to the ~4000 tanks already in storage across the nation. Along with the ~200 Abrams ordered by Congress, the plant simultaneously produced Israeli
Namer APC Namer (, ; meaning "leopard," and also a syllabic abbreviation of "Nagmash" (APC) and "Merkava") is an Israeli armoured personnel carrier based on a Merkava Mark IV tank chassis. Namer was developed by and is being assembled by the Israeli Ord ...
chassis and Abrams Foreign Military tanks, during the allotted time frame. The Army considered a layaway of the plant if their production met its quota before 2017, in addition to reallocating unused equipment. General Dynamics Land Systems, which currently operates the government owned factory, opposed the closure, arguing that suspension of operations would 'increase long-term costs' and 'reduce flexibility'. Proposed efforts of decommissioning the plant are estimated to cost around $380 million, with an additional $1.3 billion needed to restart production after such a diminishing if required at a later date. A bill which passed in the U.S. Senate, allocated $272 million in funds toward the plant to facilitate its continuation of regular operations through July 2014. However, GDLS continues to lobby for an additional $180M. In December 2016 a new funding program of $1.2 billion was allocated for the production of the Abrams tank and Stryker armored vehicle to be built at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima. As of July 2018, the factory was producing 11 Abrams tanks a month. During a trip to Ohio, President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
visited the plant on March 20, 2019, where he gave a speech affirming his commitment to keeping the plant up and running. The Army announced in early 2019 that it would spend ~$714 million to upgrade the M1A1 Abrams at the plant.


Tanks produced

*
M5 Stuart The M3 Stuart/light tank M3, was a US light tank of World War II, first entered service in the British Army in early 1941 and saw action in the North African campaign in July 1941. Later an improved version of the tank entered service as the ...
(1941–1944) *
M26 Pershing The M26 Pershing is a heavy tank, later designated as a medium tank, formerly used by the United States Army. It was used in the last months of World War II during the Western Allied invasion of Germany, Invasion of Germany and extensively dur ...
(1943–1945) *
M1 Abrams The M1 Abrams () is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heavies ...
(1980–1986) *
M1A1 Abrams The M1 Abrams () is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heavies ...
(1986–present)


References


External links

* {{Coord, 40.704, -84.132, type:landmark_region:US-OH, display=title Industrial installations of the United States Army Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio Buildings and structures in Lima, Ohio 1941 establishments in Ohio