McHugh Stands by Abrams Shutdown Plan, Wants To Work with Industry

McHugh Stands by Abrams Shutdown Plan, Wants To Work with Industry
24 May 2011

Army Secretary John McHugh told a panel of Senate appropriators last week that the service remained committed to its strategy to shut

down Abrams tank production for three years beginning in 2013, but wanted to work with contractors to preserve the defense industrial

base while a tank plant in Lima, OH, was "mothballed."
"The decision on the future production of the tank was simply made on the business case," he said at a May 18 Senate Appropriations

defense subcommittee hearing. "The cost of shutting down and mothballing the plant, including the cost of rebuilding the employee base,

was far more economically sensible than maintaining the minimum production necessary through the period until we begin to develop a

follow-on for the Abrams platform."
In the face of objections from Abrams contractor General Dynamics Land Systems and many lawmakers, the Army is arguing that

shutting the tank line down for three years and restarting it again would cost only $800 million, as opposed to the $1.3 billion GDLS has

proposed to keep it operating at a minimum level. The service is revisiting its figures, however, and has tapped the Institute for Defense

Analyses for a study that will deliver interim results in July and be completed in December (Inside the Army, May 2, p1). The Army

claims that the money being saved will be put back into the tank during a broader modernization effort set to begin in 2016.
But GDLS claims the Army is wrong to assume it will be able to "buy back" expert employees who will not wait three years to find work.
McHugh told the Senate committee he understood the concerns and is open to finding a solution that would stimulate the base. "Those

are legitimate concerns and we share them," he said. "We are looking very carefully and working with [the Defense Department] . . . to

see what, if anything, we can do that can help preserve that expert force. These are not folks that you just find on the street. They have a

developed expertise. We recognize it; we value it. They have contributed, as many of our contractors have over the years, in incredibly

important ways, and we want to do the right thing by them as well. But also . . . we've got to make some hard decisions."
A GDLS spokeswoman said company executives were headed to Washington this week to discuss the issue with lawmakers and

Pentagon officials.
McHugh recently received a letter from nearly 140 lawmakers requesting that he reconsider the Army's approach. Officials from GDLS

claim that Abrams tank production impacts 48 states.
The House Armed Services Committee also included a measure in its version of the fiscal year 2012 defense authorization bill that would

insert an additional $172 million into the program to keep production going. The Army is also scheduled to shutter Bradley Fighting

Vehicle production for three years beginning in 2013, but the committee injected funding to prevent that as well (ITA, May 9, p1). --

Tony Bertuca

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