Armor: January 3, 2002

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The Greeks are expected to announce their decision on a new tank within a few weeks, but they are driving a hard bargain. They asked for "Best and Final Offers" a year ago, but now have given all six competitors (M1A2, Leclerc, Leopard-2A6ex, T-84, T-80U, Challenger-2E) an opportunity to "revalidate" their bids (i.e., make an even better and even more final offer) with promises that a decision will be made by the end of February. (Previous revalidations and promises did not produce orders.) The Greeks want 246 tanks, 12 bridgelayers, 24 recovery vehicles, 12 driver training tanks, and 12 turret training tanks, plus two years of spare parts.--Stephen V Cole