Investing in the “legendary” M1 Abrams tank is “at the heart” of the U.S. military’s rebuilding effort, President Donald Trump said during a visit to the Lima Army Tank Plant in Ohio.

Trump added that planned upgrades to the tank will keep production of the legacy vehicle “thundering down the assembly line.”

“Over the next three years, we’re investing more than $6 billion in upgrades and modifications to these tanks,” Trump said during the March 20 visit. “With the help of everyone in this room, we are giving our warriors the most effective, reliable and lethal battle tank in the history of war.”

Trump’s tour of the Army-owned plant was led by Phebe N. Novakovic, who is chairman and CEO of General Dynamics Corp., which operates the plant, and chairman of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Council of Trustees.

The Army’s fiscal 2020 budget request includes $714 million for 174 Abrams tanks. The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, also known as the Lima Army Tank Plant, was close to shutting down in 2012, and it now produces about 11 tanks a month.

“The fact is we have the best tanks, driven by the best soldiers, made by the best workers anywhere in the world,” Trump said.

Since 1941, Trump said, the Lima plant has “built and serviced thousands of tanks and military vehicles that powered American forces through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. And the tanks are the best in the world—better than ever before.”

“Production is ramping up in the biggest way,” Trump said, “and the awesome M1 Abrams tank is once again thundering down the assembly line.”