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Here's a short excerpt of the article - click through for a complete rundown of the planned upgrades.
The US Army plans to improve its fleet of Stryker vehicles wit hthe introduction of improved suspension, increased power generation and distribution, implemented by new power management systems. According to COL Christopher Lockhart, TRADOC Capability Manager, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, since the deployment of Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) in Iraq, Stryker vehicles have been continuously fitted with new electronic systems, including power guzzling Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) jammers and gunshot detection systems. These systems rapidly drain the vehicle's power reserves, particularly when operating 'Silent Watch' with engine turned off. To sustain Silent Watch over extended periods, the introduction of an on-board auxiliary power unit is planned. The suspension will be improved to sustain loads up to 24-27 metric tons (55,000-60,000 lbs.) Lockhart presented the Stryker upgrade path to the audience of the IDGA Tactical Vehicles summit held in Washington DC in April 08. Defense Update was one of the media sponsors of this event. [...]
Army News Service | by Jim Hinnant
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Posters showing a battle-weary combat Soldier adorn the walls of the Stryker Battle Damage Repair Facility here. "Remember - everything we do affects this man. He and his buddies will be the first to pay for our mistakes," the posters warn.
The team of dedicated contractors working here in support of 1st Battalion, 401st Army Field Support Brigade has worked with that thought constantly in mind, says Tim Armstrong, Qatar site manager for General Dynamics Land Systems Division.
"As of April 19th, we have returned 123 Stryker Combat Vehicles, each with varying degrees of battle damage, to service with units in Iraq," said Armstrong. [...]
Journalist Michael Yon recently sat down with General Dubik in Iraq. Dubik was the top commander at Ft. Lewis while the first Stryker brigades were being formed there and is now in charge of the coalition effort to train Iraqi Security Forces. One of the topics of their conversation was the Stryker concept. Excerpt:
Years ago, LTG Dubik was chosen to form the first Stryker brigades from scratch. The Stryker has been a subject of controversy. I’ve spent about eight months on combat operations in Strykers, and perhaps a year in other modes of transportation such as Humvees, Bradleys, and boots. Over the course of that time, I became a firm believer in Strykers because what a lot of Stryker critics don’t seem to understand—presumably because they have spent little time in combat with numerous units—is that it’s not all about the vehicle. Yes, the Stryker itself is fantastic. (History might be less kind to the new MRAP.) But the biggest factor in its effectiveness is not in the vehicle, but in the way that soldiers who use it have learned to fight. The critiques I read all focused on the Stryker vehicle and totally missed the fact that Stryker brigades fight Kung Fu-style, while Humvee fighting is more like street brawling. Stryker brigades fight faster and with greater agility. Soldiers have more information. As a consequence, decision-making is distributed and responsibility pushed farther down the chain of command during fighting.
A not-so-flattering article regarding the Mobile Gun System variant first fielded by the 4/2 SBCT in Iraq.
By Christian Lowe, Military.com
BAQUBAH, Iraq - The newest version of the Army's popular Stryker combat vehicle is garnering poor reviews here from Soldiers assigned to man its tank-like hull.
The General Dynamics Corp.-built Mobile Gun System looks like a typical eight-wheeled Stryker, except for a massive 105mm gun mounted on its roof. The gun fires three different types of projectiles, including explosive rounds, tank-busters and a "canister round" that ejects hundreds of steel pellets similar to a shotgun shell.
This is Part II of a story we originally posted back in September. Excerpt:
The Stryker community and beyond knows General Lee through writer Michael Yon’s dispatch titled “Superman,” which recounts unit activity where General Lee carried its soldiers on their duties virtually unscathed by roadside bombs. Michael Yon is a writer, photographer and former Green Beret who. was embedded in Iraq for nine months in 2005. He returned to Iraq in 2007 to continue reporting on the war. He is entirely reader supported and publishes his work at http://www.michaelyon-online.com.General Lee, declared a battle loss, traveled by land and sea to ANAD, where it went through much the same process as every other vehicle. ANAD overhauls or resets around 100-150 vehicles a month.
The Army calls returning damaged equipment to like-new condition reset, which returns a vehicle to a unit ready to go.
“Frankly, my view is the difference between a hollow army and an army that can sustain itself in a period of persistent conflict is reset,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said in a state-of-the-Army speech Oct. 8.
By Army Sustainment Command News Release
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar-A ceremony marking the completion of the 100th Stryker Combat Vehicle was held Jan. 12 at the Stryker Battle Damage Repair Facility, Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar.
Col. Robert W. Schumiz, program manager for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Warren, Mich., spoke to the 90-member workforce and other invited guests.
Schumitz summarized the historical accomplishments of the facility - including the repair of five Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle 513s. The ICV 513s were damaged and initially identified as a total loss when they arrived. Once the facility stood up, the vehicles became the first to be repaired in Spring 2005.
C. Todd Lopez, Army News Service
WASHINGTON - The Army now has authorization to purchase 95 more Stryker nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance vehicles, in addition to 10 already in Iraq and several others used for testing and training.
During a press conference Dec. 19 at the Pentagon, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Spoehr, chief, U.S. Army Chemical Corps, said existing NBCRVs have proven important for Army commanders in the field and that the Army requested and received approval to purchase more of them.
"The Stryker NBCRV represents a powerful tool for commanders to protect U.S. interests from weapons of mass destruction," Brig. Gen. Spoehr said. "And this month, after careful consideration, the Department of Defense gave the authorization for 95 more Stryker NBCRVs."
The following is an article excerpt - you need to be a subscriber to get the full text.
The US Army has deployed a unique version of the Stryker armoured vehicle outfitted with an array of non-lethal technologies, Jane's has learned.
Don Jarosz, a spokesman for the service's TACOM (tank-automotive) Life Cycle Management Command, confirmed that the service sent three Full Spectrum Effects Platform (FSEP) vehicles to Iraq in October. The new vehicles are operated by the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division - a Stryker-based unit.
Fielding FSEP paves the way for future integration of non-lethal technology on combat vehicles. Among other things, FSEP is equipped with floodlights, laser dazzlers and a loudspeaker system. It is supposed to provide an alternative to lethal armament in 'escalation-of-force' scenarios around checkpoints and traffic control points. Jarosz said the FSEP would enable soldiers to accomplish their mission "without resorting to deadly force".
The US military has struggled to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly around roadblocks and near convoys. Earlier in 2007, the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, issued a new handbook on the application of graduated force at checkpoints. The service has also revised training procedures at places such as the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
Michael Yon is back in Iraq after a brief break. I'm hoping he links up with Stryker troops on this visit as well. Regardless, he's re-published an article from Defense Daily on his site that talks about the Army equipment reset process. To illustrate the process the writer focuses on the journey of a single vehicle - the Stryker affectionately dubbed the "General Lee". Yon featured the General Lee in his dispatch titled "Superman". Excerpt:
By sea and by land, one of the Army’s war-battered Stryker vehicles known to its unit as the General Lee is coming home to Anniston Army Depot, Ala., where it was built, to be repaired and sent on to a unit in ready-to-fight condition.General Lee will be just one of the more than 300,000 major pieces of equipment the Army has spent $38 billion to repair to date under the process it calls reset, according to a September Congressional Budget Office report. The process is complex, involving a multitude of military organizations and contractors, hundreds of people and hours of work.
Time after time in Iraq, General Lee saved soldiers from improvised explosive devices, but an explosion in April left it unrepairable in Iraq and declared a battle loss.
Raytheon’s Quick Kill Active Protection System will be fitted onto an Army Stryker vehicle for the first time this summer, say Raytheon and Army officials.
Quick Kill is designed to detect, track and bring down incoming rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weapons. The APS is being developed for the Army’s Future Combat Systems under a February 2006 deal between Raytheon and Boeing, which with SAIC is the FCS lead systems integrator.
The Stryker concept has been controversial since its inception, but the vast majority of first-hand reports have been very positive.
By Robert H. Reid and Anne Flaherty, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — A string of heavy losses from powerful roadside bombs has raised new questions about the vulnerability of the Stryker, the Army's troop-carrying vehicle hailed by supporters as the key to a leaner, more mobile force.
Since the Strykers went into action in violent Diyala province north of Baghdad two months ago, losses of the vehicles have been rising steadily, U.S. officials said.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum wants more Stryker brigades for the U.S. National Guard he commands, adding a powerful voice to the chorus of states — including Alabama, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada and Oregon — that want more of the 20-ton, eight-wheeled armored combat vehicles.
“If the Army would identify a requirement for additional Stryker units in the Army National Guard, we would welcome that dramatically,” Blum told members of Congress on April 20. “It offers protection and see-more, know-more and act-faster kind of capabilities. I would love to have had a Stryker brigade in Katrina,” referring to the disaster response in the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Stryker drivers of all experience levels are using advanced simulators at Fort Lewis to hone their skills operating the 19-ton armored vehicles.
The $800,000 simulators allow new drivers to become acquainted with the vehicle’s handling and maneuverability and enable experienced drivers to fine-tune their skills without risking injury to soldiers or damage to the $4 million vehicles, Army officials said.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this training capability is going to save lives in combat, and it’s going to give us a more capable force than we’ve had before,” said Brig Gen. William Troy, deputy commander of Fort Lewis and I Corps, during a short ribbon-cutting ceremony for the simulators Tuesday.
Army officials credit their effort to install reactive armor on more armored vehicles with cutting the number of casualties from rocket-propelled grenades in Iraq. They also said the armor, which triggers a small explosion to fend off a larger one, has reduced the Army’s immediate need for active protection systems, which are intended to shoot down incoming weapons.
“The reactive armor and slat armor protection systems currently deployed contribute to the effectiveness of our current combat systems to defeat the RPG threat without the use of an active protection system,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, the acquisition and systems management deputy to the assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, told lawmakers in September.
Brian Albrecht, Plain Dealer Reporter
Chances are there's one vehicle you will never drive, much less be able to afford, among the rolling ranks of gleaming chrome and supple leather at the Cleveland Auto Show.
As part of recruiting efforts at the show, which runs through Sunday at the International Exposition Center, the Army brought in a Stryker - an armored troop transport first introduced for the war in Iraq.
This million-dollar mountain of metal, looming within crushing distance of a $50,000 Porsche Boxster, is an obvious attention-getter. But the Stryker's presence is also intended to show civilians that the military is more than just grunts and guns, said Sgt. 1st Class Philip Cianchetti at the Army's exhibit.
By Spc. Debrah A. Robertson, 40th Public Affairs Detachment
Blackanthem Military News, Southwest Asia — I need pressure to stop this bleeding! Someone start an IV!
Brightly lit and teeming with medics, this is not an operating room or even an ambulance. This is a Medical Evacuation Stryker vehicle.
There are 10 different variants of the Stryker. Its smooth ride and heavy armor allow it to support multiple functions, from infantry power to engineering teams to ambulatory services.
BY U.S. Army Operational Test Command (Photos included)
DUGWAY PROVING GROUNDS, Utah (Army News Service, Dec. 14, 2006) - Initial operating tests were completed on the Stryker Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle at Dugway Proving Grounds last month.
The Stryker NBCRV will detect and identify biological, chemical, radiological and toxic industrial chemical/material hazards on the battlefield, according to Maj. Joseph Giese, test officer for the Engineer and Combat Support Test Directorate.
By Jason Kaye, Northwest Guardian
YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER – Under the watchful eyes of everyone from TRADOC to General Dynamics Land Systems, Mobile Gun System crews from the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry had the opportunity Sunday to put the latest variant of the Stryker to the test on Yakima’s Range 10.
A cluster of CONEXs served as a makeshift range tower on a hilltop overlooking the seldom-used range. Infrared cameras and audio equipment recorded the engagements of each of the battalion’s nine crews. “This is the first MGS gunnery in the Army, period,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pratt, the brigade master gunner.
General Dynamics announced that the U.S. Army has placed its FY 2006 order for 306 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems. The order is valued at $463.9 million, and is an extension of a November 2000 contract to provide more than 2,100 armored vehicles. Work will be performed in Anniston, AL; Lima, OH; and London, Ontario, Canada. Vehicle deliveries are slated for April 2007 through March 2008.
By Anita Powell, Stars and Stripes
How does Lt. Col. Al Kelly tell his Stryker apart from others on Baghdads streets?
By looking for buck buck, the fake plastic duck hes mounted on the front hatch of the massive vehicle.
Iraqi kids call it buck buck, he said, imitating the sound a duck makes.
Hes also decorated the vehicle with a horseshoe, and a toy eagle.
He has an eagle eye, Kelly said. With the eagle, he said, We spotted a lot of [roadside bombs] before we hit them.
And what about the fake mallard?
Well, Kelly explained, after being hit by 13 roadside bombs and four snipers over the last year, I figured I was a sitting duck.
Unfortunately I don't get the Military Channel with my cable package, but for those of you that do they are broadcasting a show right now called, "Anatomy of a Stryker". Apparently it features the 1/25 SBCT operating in Mosul, and also the 3/2 SBCT as it prepared to deploy.
Follow the link for showtimes. Thanks to David for the heads-up.
Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
The 10th and final version of the Stryker armored vehicle to be delivered to Fort Lewis looks a lot like its predecessors, with one exception.
One big exception.
The Mobile Gun System features a 105 mm cannon. Five years in the making, it brings much more to the fight than other versions armed with a heavy machine gun, a grenade launcher or anti-tank missiles.
This will bring a lot more firepower, a lot more versatility to what the infantry can do, said Sgt. 1st Class David Cooper, a tanker who leads a platoon of three of the new vehicles in the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.
The new variant they call it the MGS is designed to back up the infantry with a gun that can blast through walls, knock out a fortified sniper nest, stop another armored vehicle and clear a street of enemy fighters.
Link to Full Article
By Tom Infield
Inquirer Staff Writer
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Looking like little tanks on wheels, the 19-ton Stryker vehicles sit in a parking lot next to white, wooden buildings dating from World War II. Each carries a sign: "Student driver."
Soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard are beginning to learn how to operate the newest and most advanced armored vehicle in the U.S. military.
Link to Full Article
The Engineer Online
Mechanical engineers at Purdue University have teamed up with the US Army to design a portable test system to ensure the safety and readiness of the eight-wheel Stryker vehicle, a ground combat vehicle deployed in Iraq.
The system uses sound waves to detect damage to a key component in the vehicles' wheel assemblies.
Link to Full Article
By Annette Fournier
The newest version of the Stryker vehicle, designed to provide fire power to Infantry units, will be unveiled May 15 at Fort Knox's Armor Warfighting Symposium.
The development of the Mobile Gun System is being managed by Fort Benning's Training and Doctrine Command System Manager-Stryker/Bradley.
The system was developed to meet the infantrys need for a highly mobile support vehicle to supply rapid, direct fire, specifically during close assaults, said Dave Rogers, a TSM-Stryker senior analyst. The Mobile Gun System will eventually be integrated into Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. ...
Link to Full Excerpt
By Scott R Gourley
As of early March 2006, General Dynamics Land Systems had delivered over 1,497 Strykers to the US Army with 2,575 vehicles funded.
In addition to three Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) combat deployments to date, 21 Stryker vehicles are now in test (10 configurations at two test sites) and low-rate initial production has been approved for the final two variants: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical [NBC] Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBC RV); and Mobile Gun System (MGS).
Link to Full Article
By Matthew Cox, Army Times
The Army has fielded the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle the latest variant to the Stryker vehicle series.
Soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Lewis, Wash., received the first three NBCRV Strykers in February, according to an Army press release.
The NBCRV is designed to locate, mark and report NBC contamination on the battlefield. It can detect and collect contaminated material on the move and automatically transmit digital NBC warning messages to warn follow-on forces.
The NBCRV vehicle is the ninth Stryker variant to be added to the Army inventory.
Link to Article
by Sgt. 1st Class David P. Benamati, 138th MPAD
MOSUL, Iraq - Over the last few years, the U.S. Army has taken note of the different ways Soldiers improve their combat vehicles. The Army, in conjunction with General Dynamics, developed the Combat Ballistic Shield system.
The CBS is a series of ballistic-proof metal armor plating strategically bolted to the top of the Stryker combat vehicles.
Link to Full Article
Defense Industry Daily
General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, MI received a $24.5 million contract for spare parts that are unique to the two newest Stryker variants: the M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS) and the M1135 Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV). This contract funds procurement of initial unique spares for the first-time fielding of these two variants, and has a total potential value of $50 million if all options are exercised.
Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Gently used theyre not.
Some, like the engineer-support models that plied the highways each morning in search of roadside bombs, logged more than 70,000 miles. The average mileage across the fleet of 285 or so vehicles is more than 20,000, officials said.
Stryker-maker General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., has begun work on a $69 million Army contract to restore the battle-tested trucks to pre-combat, like-new condition. About 120 company mechanics are doing the work at Fort Lewis and at a company yard in Auburn.
The Strykers arrived home by ship in late October, after a year in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, then another year with their successors from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division....
Link to Full Article
PR Newswire
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:D), delivered its first two low-rate initial production (LRIP) Stryker Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) variants to the U.S. Army yesterday at Anniston (Ala.) Army Depot. General Dynamics will deliver 17 NBCRV variants during low-rate production, through March 2006. The vehicles will be used for various tests and user evaluations through the fourth quarter of 007. The Army is expected to make the decision to begin full-rate production (called "Milestone C") of the NBCRV in the fourth quarter of 2007. [...]
Link to Full Article
PRN Newswire
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a $69 million contract for Stryker eight-wheeled combat vehicle sustainment or "reset" work. Through this contract, General Dynamics will service, repair and modify 265 Stryker infantry combat vehicles which are returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom, restoring them to a pre-combat, like-new condition in advance of reissuing the vehicles prior to their next deployment. These vehicles have been in service in Iraq since October 2003, supporting two 3,900-soldier Stryker Brigade Combat Team rotations.
Link to Full Article
By Michael Gilbert, News-Tribune
Hundreds of military vehicles just back from two years in Iraq including the Armys first 300 or so combat-tested Stryker armored vehicles will convoy on local highways over the next four days, the Army said. [...]
Joe Katzman at Defense Industry Daily (DID) has published a lengthy collection of recent reviews of the Stryker vehicle, and adds his own analysis as well. SBCT commanders are quoted extensively. We've linked to many of these sources in the past, but DID does an excellent job of putting this information in proper context. Excerpt:
So the Stryker is not a substitute, as some of its original proponents had hoped. Instead, Col. Brown's comparisons to the heavier M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle show the Stryker as a complementary vehicle with different strengths. For sustained operations in cities or favourable terrain, a quieter vehicle that can survive basic IED and RPG attacks, travels quickly, holds up well through high mileage, lacks pavement-damaging steel tracks, and is equipped with advanced C4ISR communications, "Blue Force Tracker" software and displays, et. al. appears to have definite advantages.
Related Article (via DID): Stryker Units Win Over Skeptics - National Defense Magazine (Cover story)
Link to Press Release
PR Newswire
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Engineered Support Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EASI) has received a $2.4 million order from General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada for power assisted cupolas. Engineered Support's wholly- owned subsidiary Systems & Electronics Inc. (SEI) will produce 55 cupolas for the reconnaissance and fire support variants of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) in their St. Louis and West Plains, Missouri facilities, according to Gerald A. Potthoff, Vice Chairman and CEO.
Link to Article (Photo included)
By J.C. Mathews
FORT LEWIS, Wa. (Army News Service, Aug. 12, 2005) - Soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, have been rotating to Yakima Training Center this summer to train on the first Stryker Mortar Carrier version B, the latest variant of the Stryker to arrive for duty.
Brigade units will field the MCV-B, essentially a Stryker with a 120mm mortar mounted in what would normally be the crew compartment, during the fall.
Link to Article (Photos included)
By Army Forward Support Brigade, South West Asia News Release
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Iraq (Army News Service, July 29, 2005) The Armys Stryker combat vehicles are back in fight now that the first Stryker repair facility is operating in Qatar.
The Stryker forward repair activity, run by General Dynamics Land Systems under direction of the Army Materiel Commands Army Field Support Battalion-Qatar, presented the first two refurbished Strykers to Army inspectors recently.
Link to Full Article
By Steven Komorow, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON Troops in Iraq will soon be shooting an experimental weapon that fires an invisible beam of energy instead of bullets to repel insurgents without killing civilians.
Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
What the Army calls its biggest, most complicated acquisition project ever employs more than 600 workers at Boeing facilities in Kent, with another 100 jobs due by the end of next year.
And thats just a tenth of the total number of engineers, software developers and others across the country who are working on the Armys Future Combat System, project officials said in a media briefing Monday.
The local jobs could grow if the Army designates Fort Lewis as home for an experimental combat brigade. Beginning in 2008, the unit would be the first to try out the array of unmanned and manned ground and aerial vehicles, computer networks and other equipment.[...]
Link to Full Article
By MIKE BARBER, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
A former Fort Lewis soldier is suing the makers of the Army's new Stryker fighting vehicle, saying that an unsafe seat-belt design resulted in his permanent disability and discharge from the military.
Link to Full Article
By Matthew Cox, Army Times (subscription)
Stryker brigade commanders, in need of more firepower, have asked for an early fielding of the Mobile Gun System variant for street fighting in northern Iraq.
But theyre going to have to do without it.
The high-tech, wheeled cannon wont be seeing combat for at least a year after the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (SBCT) returns home this fall, Stryker program officials say.
Soldiers, airmen pair up to crew TACP Strykers
Link to Full Article (subscription - June 6th paper edition)
By Bruce Rolfsen, Army Times
As airmen get ready to deploy this summer to Iraq to call in airstrikes for the Army, they are at the pointed end of a revolution in how the two services handle close-air support.
Alaska-based airmen will be the first to go into Iraq equipped with their own armored Stryker vehicles filled with the latest communications and targeting gear.
Link to Full Article
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq In spite of its flaws, there is no other vehicle Stryker Brigade Combat Team soldiers say they would rather be in.
Some soldiers say the Strykers safety factor outweighs the litany of shortcomings outlined last year in an internal study by the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Link to Full Article
Businesswire Press Release
BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2005--Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MVIS) of Bothell, WA, the world leader in the development of scanned beam displays and imaging products, announced today that it will reveal its latest version of the Spectrum(R) helmet-mounted, full-color Display System at the Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium, in Boston, May 24 - 26. The revolutionary scanned beam display is the culmination of a Phase 3, $3.85 million development contract with the U.S. Army Product Manager -- Air Warrior, part of Program Executive Office -- Soldier.
Stryker Vehicle on Display
Link to Full Article
By Eric Cramer, Army News Service
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 4, 2005) -- Soldiers from around the Army are taking part in Public Service Recognition Week May 5-8, to help showcase government service at all levels. [...]
Link to Full Article
Army News Service
PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Army News Service, April 29, 2005) -- A joint-service program office at Picatinny Arsenal has completed development and is managing the purchase of 589 new lightweight 155mm howitzers for the Army and Marine Corps.
Link to Full Article
By ROBERT BURNS, AP MILITARY WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Citing videotaped testimonials from soldiers in Iraq, the Army on Thursday returned fire in a battle with critics of its Stryker troop-carrying vehicle, which some say inadequately protects soldiers.
The Army says the Stryker has proven its worth in numerous combat engagements, although its own think tank, the Center for Army Lessons Learned, found numerous design flaws and other problems.
Here's an April Fool's joke involving the Stryker vehicle that Steve Thorne sent to me. Meet the M1126A Fryker Armored Combat Deep Fryer.
Link to Full Article
By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - For soldiers inside the U.S. Army's newest troop transport vehicle, the armored combat Stryker rides like a cross-town bus as it sways softly atop its rubber tires, its brakes hissing quietly - before the back shoots open and troops leap onto the streets of one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.
Some 300 Strykers are patrolling northern Iraq after their September 2003 introduction - vanguard of a multibillion dollar program that commanders say boosts their chances in a largely hit-and-run battle with insurgents.
Rank-and-file soldiers hailed the Stryker during recent patrols in Mosul as faster, quieter and safer than other combat vehicles - despite last week's internal Army study that found numerous design flaws.
Link to Full Article
Honolulu Advertiser
The Army's Stryker combat vehicle is already being redesigned because of soldiers' complaints about its safety and performance, and some of those changes will appear on vehicles destined for Hawai'i, military officials said.
Several key systems are being redesigned to give future Strykers better mobility, increased protection and greater firepower, officials said.
By 2007, according to an Army report, Stryker brigades will be able to shoot on the move with greater accuracy day and night. They'll also have armored shields protecting vulnerable hatches and an improved tire inflation system that can better handle the vehicle's weight in combat.
Link to Full Article
LTC MICHAEL E. KURILLA, News Tribune
I read the article (TNT, 3-31) about the Strykers substandard performance in Mosul with interest. I offer readers the following facts based on six months of fighting a counterinsurgency with Strykers in Mosul, Iraq, and ask them to make their own conclusion.
These facts are purely as they apply to one Stryker infantry battalion 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment which has operated in Mosul since October 2004 with 75 Strykers.
Letter to the Editor
Washington Post
I am with the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, which has operated in Mosul, Iraq, since last October with 75 Strykers.
A March 31 article ["Study Faults Army Vehicle," front page] cites the Stryker's substandard survivability and maintenance as putting soldiers' lives at risk. I strongly disagree.
Soldiers in Iraq say the armored vehicle, made in Sterling Heights, meets combat expectations.
Link to Full Article
Detroit News
MOSUL, Iraq -- An internal U.S. Army report detailing flaws in a new $11 billion armored personnel carrier known as the Stryker has come under criticism from soldiers who use the vehicle in combat.
The Dec. 21 report cited problems with the Stryker's protective slat armor, remote weapons system and computers. The flaws, it said, placed troops "at unexpected risk" to rocket-propelled grenade attacks and raised questions about the Stryker's development for urban warfare. The vehicle is engineered in Sterling Heights, Mich., by General Dynamics Land Systems.
A Stryker Brigade commander responds to an op-ed in the Washington Times with a letter of his own. This letter was originally published on February 14th, 2005, but I don't believe we've linked to it before.
I would like to respond to the opinions Col. Douglas A. MacGregor voiced in his letter to the editor ("Army transformation," Friday).
First, as a commander of a reconnaissance troop in the Stryker brigade, I do not view myself as the leader of a "SWAT" team, as Col. MacGregor describes Stryker brigades. No offense to the members of those great organizations, but the mission I am trained to handle is far more complex. I am charged with conducting "full-spectrum operations," meaning everything from peacekeeping to high-intensity conflicts. Stryker brigades demonstrated the capability to accomplish these missions on multiple occasions in Iraq.
Link to Full Article
MATTHEW COX, Army Times
SPRINGFIELD, Va. -- The Army's newest combat vehicle, the Stryker, is already being redesigned because of soldiers' complaints about its safety and performance, military officials said.
Several key systems are being redesigned to give future Strykers better mobility, increased protection and greater killing power, officials said.
Link to Full Article
By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post
MOSUL, Iraq, April 2 -- An internal U.S. Army report detailing flaws in a new $11 billion armored personnel carrier known as the Stryker has come under criticism from soldiers who use the vehicle in combat.
Link to Full Article
CHRISTIAN HILL, THE OLYMPIAN
Challenges faced in Iraq by soldiers of a Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade went beyond their namesake vehicles.
A classified report that was leaked and made public Thursday notes design flaws and other problems with the eight-wheeled, 19-ton vehicles. It also provides a glimpse into the struggles of a unit pushed to its limits while securing a foreign land populated by millions.
MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune
Soldiers from two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades rushed to the defense of their 19-ton vehicles this week, reacting to broad media coverage of a leaked Army report.
The performance of the wheeled infantry carriers in Iraq was just one part of the report on lessons learned by the Armys first Stryker brigade. The 120-page document was based on interviews conducted in the six weeks before the unit came home last fall.
But news reports this week that focused on flaws in the $2 million Strykers provoked strong responses from soldiers who spend long hours inside them.
I have watched this vehicle save my soldiers lives and enable them to kill our nations enemies, Lt. Col Erik Kurilla wrote in a letter to The News Tribune this week from Iraq, where hes serving with the second Stryker Brigade.[...]
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BY Bob Brewin
A satellite communications system, which Army officials cobbled together from commercial components before the Armys Stryker Brigade Combat Team departed for Iraq last fall, emerged as the brigades most valuable broadband tactical Internet asset, according to an Army study.
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By R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post
Use of Transport in Iraq Puts Troops at Risk, Internal Report Says
The Army has deployed a new troop transport vehicle in Iraq with many defects, putting troops there at unexpected risk from rocket-propelled grenades and raising questions about the vehicle's development and $11 billion cost, according to a detailed critique in a classified Army study obtained by The Washington Post.