It’s a stunning revival to be celebrated at a northwest Ohio military plant. Five years ago, the Lima tank factory came close to closing because of lack of work, but now it plans to hire up to 400 workers in the next year.
The U.S. Senate has voted to approve nearly $2 billion in the 2020 defense spending bill for use at the plant to upgrade 165 Abrams tanks and $249 million to upgrade Stryker armored vehicles. That’s on top of a $700 million contract announced early this year for upgrading 174 Abrams tanks. The upgrade costs vary by what is needed to modernize the vehicle.