Egypt is looking to upgrade half of its its M1 Abrams main battle tank fleet through a nearly $5 billion project covering 555 tanks.
The US State Department on 20 December 2024 approved the potential foreign military sale of tank refurbishment equipment for an estimated cost of $4.69 billion, and notified Congress of the possible deal.
Egypt is looking to refurbish and upgrade 555 M1A1 Abrams tanks to M1A1SA configuration by acquiring 555 AN/VAS- 5B Driver Vision Enhancer (DVE-A) Kits; 555 Thermal Imaging System (TIS) Gunner’s Sights; M250 Smoke Grenade Launchers; AGT-1500 tank engines; X-1100 tank transmissions; spare parts; and support equipment.
The DVE features a rugged, lightweight, liquid-crystal display (LCD) which provides critical situational awareness during night, low light, daylight conditions.
“Egypt is the only country in the world, other than the United States, that produces the M1A1 Abrams. The Egyptian Refurbishment Programme will significantly contribute to the flow of M1A1 components and parts from the United States, creating economies of scale and reducing overall unit price of scarce M1A1 parts for the Department of Defence and other US security partners,” the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
“This programme does not provide additional tanks and updating Egypt’s tanks to a common, modern configuration will reduce obsolescence and positively impact the logistics supply chain,” the DSCA added.
The M1A1SA tank contractor will be General Dynamics Land Systems. Refurbishment and upgrade will take place at the Egyptian Tank Plant, Cairo, Egypt. The upgrade project, including training and fielding, could last for up to ten years. Egypt has been producing M1 tanks locally since the 1980s.
Egypt has about 1 200 M1 Abrams tanks in its inventory, as well as substantial numbers of legacy Soviet T-54, T-55 and T-62 tanks, and US M60s, although the majority are in storage. A small number of T-80Us are also in service. Some Egyptian M1s are about 40 years old, and will greatly benefit from the upgrade to keep them in service well beyond 2030.
More than five years ago there were reports that Egypt would buy 500 T-90MS tanks from Russia, with local assembly, but it is not clear if this deal ever went ahead.
