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Originally Posted by rcaf_777
M1 production happened at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in Warren MI, till 1996.
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Given that we were in hot per the T2k timeline I'd wager it was still a 24/7 affair up until it got nuked (along with Lima) in Nov. '97.
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The MI production plant is still the Lima Army Tank Plant, which has produced M1 since 1980.
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Not any more; it's been shut down too.
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The Army is not and has no plans to permanently close the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, JSMC. Army officials are planning to end U.S. Army tank production in the JSMC from 2015 to 2016 because the U.S. Army has built all of the tanks that the troops need, given the current Army force structure, which dictates how many vehicles it needs in Active and Reserve Units as well as Contingency storage in case the vehicles are needed for a war. The Army did not convince Congress that it did not need more tanks in 2011, so in 2013, Congress funded an additional tanks to be built at a cost of ~$270M. The Army plans on building those tanks and parking them in storage. At the end of the day there will be ~200 "brand new" tanks in storage because the Army reduced the quantity of tanks it needed in its Force Structure - how many of each vehicle and number of troops, etc. Additionally, there are ~4000 tanks in storage in the desert. The plant will continue to produce other products including the Israeli Merkava and Abrams Foreign Military tanks during that timeframe. The Army is considering layaway of the plant if there is a gap with no additional production between 2013 and 2017. The Army will layaway unused equipment. General Dynamics Land Systems, which currently operates in the government owned factory, opposed the closure, arguing that suspension of operations would increase long-term costs and reduce flexibility.[7][8] Recapitalization efforts during the war have resulted in the youngest fleet age in the history of the Abrams program. The average age of the Abrams tank in U.S. Army service less than two years old. Plant closure would cost the Army $822 million in closing and re-opening costs, which is far less money than continuing production and storage costs for tanks that won't be used.[9] If passed, a bill currently in the U.S. Senate would allocate $272 million in funds toward the plant to allow it to continue regular operations through July 2014. This bill did pass and GDLS is lobbying for an additional $180M.[10]
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(wackypedia, but their sources are straight from congressional record, etc. on this one)
With that said we've got 2000 M1 hulls sitting in the desert in California doing nothing but getting really hot during the day and cold during the night.