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Strykers set to join U.S. forces in Iraq

Apr-29-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]
NORMAN DE BONO, Free Press Business Reporter

A second brigade of London-made Stryker armoured vehicles is poised to enter Iraq as concern grows over the vulnerability of U.S. army troops. The thinly-armoured Humvee has been the focus of attacks by Iraqis that have killed numerous U.S. soldiers and heavier armour is needed in military hotspots, say observers.

This week, a memo from U.S. army Gen. Larry Ellis, leaked to the media, stated soldiers need better armour and it was "imperative" the Pentagon accelerate production and deployment of Strykers.

There is now a brigade of Strykers, about 300 vehicles, in Mosul, but there are more than 4,000 Humvees in Iraq, of which only two per cent have armour.

Reports from Iraq have U.S. soldiers welding steel doors onto the open Humvees, placing Kevlar vests on the floor and fixing sandbags on to the vehicles -- the thin metal skin of which can be penetrated by gunfire -- in an effort to "up-armour" them and make them safer.

"The mission has evolved to the point where people are saying, 'whoops,' " John Williams, spokesperson for the National Defense Industrial Association in Washington, a Washington group representing weapons makers, said yesterday.

"Nothing against the Humvee. It is a good vehicle, but they're trying to make it into something it is not designed to be," he said of the combat role.

The Stryker is ideal for the "denser combat environment" in Iraq, he added.

There are some other interesting details included in the article.


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