Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant

Detroit Army Arsenal
Part of U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command
Warren, Michigan
The plant floor in the 1940s.
Type	TACOM *Research, Development and Engineering Center *Life Cycle Management Command.
Site information
Controlled by	US Army Installation Management Command
Garrison information
Garrison	US Army Garrison - Detroit Army Arsenal

Detroit Arsenal (DTA), formerly Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (DATP) was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, this plant was owned by the U.S. government until 1996. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn. The building was designed originally as a "dual production facility, so that it could make armaments and be turned into peaceful production at war's end. Notwithstanding its name, the 113-acre (0.46 km²) site was located in Warren, Michigan, Detroit's largest suburb.

Chrysler's construction effort at the plant in 1941 was one of the fastest on record. Indeed, the first tanks rumbled out of the plant before its construction was finished.

During World War II, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant built a quarter of the 89,568 tanks produced in the U.S. overall. The Korean War boosted production for the first time since World War II had ended; the government would suspend tank production after each war. In May 1952, Chrysler resumed control from the army, which had been unable to ramp up production.

As a Government-Owned, Contractor Operated (GOCO) facility, Chrysler retained operational control of the production facility until March 1982, when Chrysler sold its Chrysler Defense division to General Dynamics Land Systems. General Dynamics produced the M1 Abrams tank at the facility (and at another plant in Lima, Ohio) until 1996, when the plant was closed and tank assembly and maintenance operations were consolidated at the Lima plant. The plant and some of the adjoining property were transferred to the City of Warren in 2001. The site of the original tank plant has been parcelled up and is now dedicated to civilian uses.

This important production site of the Arsenal of Democracy is memorialized by a Michigan Historical Marker.