Major improvements coming to Lima's tank plant

May 20—LIMA — An important aspect of the military is the vehicles it uses. General Dynamics Land Systems is a company that creates vehicles for the government, and local representatives from Lima's Joint Systems Manufacturing Center spoke to the Lima Rotary Club on Monday afternoon to talk about their production.

"Our future here is very good," Senior General Dynamics Land Systems Representative Gary Hadding said. "The investment the United States government is putting into JSMC is remarkably huge right now. We have a lot of future investments going to take place plus our contracts are coming in well."

The JSMC is scheduled for a significant increase in government investment in the publicly-owned, privately-managed factory, with its budget increasing to $287.1 million in 2028 and $300 million in 2029 for plant upgrades, including more automated and robotic processes. The plant, which refurbishes existing tanks, will produce new hulls from raw products for the first time since the 1990s at its 369-acre campus off Buckeye Road, south of Lima.

The plant, which employs 856 people, not only produces the Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 tanks but also the Stryker A1 vehicles, M10 Bookers, NAMER and M-SHORAD transport vehicles, among others. The plant makes vehicles for the United States, as well as ones for countries such as Australia, Israel and Taiwan. It recently completed an order for Ukraine.

The plant currently employees 856 civilians, along with an estimated 80 Army personnel for security. The plant's employment dipped near 400 in 2015 before rebounding in recent years.

"A lot of people do not understand what we do at JSMC," Hadding said. "We produce different vehicles throughout our process. Our main product is the main battle tank. We also produce other vehicles there, the Stryker and the Navy turret. We also have some new programs in place as prototypes."

Hadding also said the organization will continue to advance in technology to better prepare for the future. Production Manager Dominic Inkrott paid homage to the upcoming holiday honoring the armed forces.

"I thought it was fitting leading up to Memorial Day to take a step back and remember why it is we do what we do," Product Manager Dominic Inkrott said. "Not just with our products but all we do to directly support the real heroes."

Inkrott added, "It is really important we do not lose sight of that in our day-to-day activities," Inkrott said. "If you do follow the news, we see every day that our products are intended to and do bring our heroes home."

For more information visit bit.ly/4bO4nXp.

Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.