the program and the plan for the construction of the co-production facility were advanced by field marshal abd al-halim abu ghazala as a way for egypt to save money on the procurement of m1 abrams main battle tanks while concurrently developing its own defense industrial base. initially, the plan would was estimated to eventually shift 40% of the tank's production to egypt to save money by taking advantage of the low cost of egyptian labor. these savings would be realized over the course of a decade-long production run of 1,500 tanks, as well as the eventual use of the factory to produce other kinds of vehicles and serve as a repair depot for egypt's fleet of m60 patton main battle tanks.