MGS helps Infantry stay on target
2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Public Affairs Office
Grafenwohr, Germany – Heavy snowfall and harsh winds around the Grafenwoehr Training Area of the Joint Multinational Training Command didn’t stop Troopers from 1st Squadron of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment from training for their deployment to Afghanistan. During this training, infantry squads incorporated the use of the new M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System into their latest live-fire operation Tuesday, February 2.
“First Squadron has incorporated the MGS system along with the Infantry carrier vehicle,” said Staff Sgt. Donald Phillips, the 2SCR Regimental Master Gunner. “This is the first time they have done this type of training since receiving the new system in December.”
The MGS is a 105 mm cannon mounted on the Stryker vehicle variant. It is the same cannon that was found on the M1 Abrams tank. According to Phillips, the MGS brings the firepower of a tank to an infantry fight.
Phillips said the MGS is designed for use in urban terrain and its central purpose is for Infantry support.
“It can be used to take out troops out in mass using a canister round,” he said, “or knock holes in buildings to provide a passage for Troops to move through.”
“It can also take on light-armored vehicles that the Infantry may encounter,” he said. “This is the first time the Soldiers have had the chance to really feel the effects of that 105mm gun.”
During the exercise Infantry squads conducted assaults and room clearing procedures while the MGS provided artillery support, engaging simulated enemy vehicles that were preparing to ambush them. This live-fire exercise is part of 2SCR’s ongoing preparation for the Afghanistan deployment.
[Editor's Note: The gun on the MGS is indeed the Abrams gun (105MM - as on the M-60) but it was the original gun on the M1A1 model. Later models have the 120mm M256 smoothbore gun developed by Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH of Germany.]
