I think Saudi Army is again interested in more M1s than german tanks.
Some people did make this speculation, that more M1s would be a viable option. Earlier last year, when the Saudi- modified M1 was revealed to the public in Dubai, the army said that they might not order the leopards and that they would go for the upgraded version of the M1.
The current M1s have been specially modified, upgraded in KSA under the RSF requirements. The first 15 tanks will be built in the US while the rest will be built in KSA.
If the RSF is interested in having more of these then I guess all what they should do is not to negotiate, but rather to place an order.
The Saudi-Abram version was shown in Dubai in 2013:
You may refer to the link below where the news have been covered:
السعودية تطور دبابة القتال الرئيسية M1A2S بالتعاون مع جنرال دايناميك
An interesting read but I wonder if AK-2 fits here instead of older AMX light tanks..and why not switch from older AMX which are even older and than the older M1s of Saudi land forces...very strange.
According to some Pakistani members here, they said that the AK-2s should meet the RSF requirements without having any further modification, but maybe just a few configurations.
If more Abrams were to be ordered then these Abrams will surely be completed different from the older ones, which means being an old is not an issue here. Just think of it this way, if the Leopard was too old to be procured then no country should have placed orders over the last few years, same goes with the F-16s and the F-15s. In short, being an old should be really no problem as long as they're up to date, technologically.
As for the use of equipments per brigades, it was always dedicated the geographical environment per province. That's why the 4 Brigades used the AMX tanks in the Southern region unlike the mountainous provinces to the North.
P.S.
Nadim Hasbani is a douchebag, he goes along with the ones who pay the most to be hailed and praised by him. At first he used to be in line with the Pan-Arabs of the Levant, which are in some way connected to Hezbollah and Iran, then he went off with the Qatari's and now with the UAE.
I think Saudi Army is again interested in more M1s than german tanks.
An interesting read but I wonder if AK-2 fits here instead of older AMX light tanks..and why not switch from older AMX which are even older and than the older M1s of Saudi land forces...very strange.
Armored Brigade) currently armed with US equipment like M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradleys et. al., and a “French brigade” (4th Armored Brigade) armed with French equipment including AMX-30 tanks, AMX-10P APCs, et. al. Indeed, Saudi equipment throughout its land forces tends to be a mixture of American and French equipment as a rule. This hedges against supplier continuity and creates wider markers for geopolitical favors, at the cost of increased maintenance burdens and potential logistical and interoperability headaches. The Tribune-Libanaise’s 2006 article “
The Dynamics of Weapons Procurement in Gulf States” offers outstanding insight and background in this area.
