Rolls-Royce Solutions America has been awarded a USD194 million contract to supply powerpacks for Israeli Namer armoured personnel carriers (APCs), the US Department of Defense announced on 17 September. The company will supply an unspecified number of powerpacks without transmissions before the end of this year, the department said. The US government approved the sale to Israel of 270 MT 883 powerpacks with diagnostic systems but no transmissions in February 2019. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the engines would be used to upgrade Namers that had entered service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since 2008. It estimated the sale to be worth USD238 million and identified the contractor as MTU America: a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. When the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced in 2015 that it had placed a USD310 million order with General Dynamics Land Systems to provide "a very significant number" of Namer kits that would be assembled in Israel, it also announced a USD250 million contract had been awarded to L3 Combat Propulsion Systems to provide the associated engines. These were assumed to be the AVDS-1790, which generates 1,200 hp. The upgrading of older Namers with the 1,497 hp MT 833 consequently represents a significant increase in power. This might be because the APCs will also be also be upgraded with the unmanned, non-penetrating turret that was unveiled on a Namer in 2017. This has a 30 mm gun, giving the vehicles significant additional firepower. The use of the same engine that is used in the IDF's Merkava Mk Ⅳ tanks should also result in logistical and maintenance efficiencies.
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