Is this machine an improvement over the Stryker?
Is this machine an improvement over the Stryker?
The Scandanvians had the right idea with a SISU, the basically have a COTS bus engine, transmission and suspension and build an armor frame to make a wheeled APC...which is what the Army really needs and is trying to turn the humvee into. By the way, the 6X6 SISU, which has an armored machine gun turret has much more space, capacity and versatility, actually costs less than M1114 both to buy and maintain.
I go back a little further than that, having been involved with the first *new five/quarter ton truck* Phase I XM998 evaluation in 1982- the first ones were shipped without trailer pintle hooks, as the vehicles hadn't yet been approved for field testing of that feature yet. The seats on the current vehicles are MUCH improved over those of the first test units....
The SISU makes for a neat little ambulance, and its commonality with cargo truck axles offers a considerable opportunity for inventory buildup and field cannibalizing when necessary. But then too, the Ford M8 *Greyhound* 6x6 armored car of WWII also shared its mogas engine, suspension and 6x6 layout with military cargo trucks of its era, differing mainly in having its powerplant relocated to the rear of the vehicle.
And there are M8s in service in South and Central America with upgraded Diesel mpowerplants and newer armament systems, sources of the ammo for the old M3 and M6 37mm AT guns being pretty well exhausted after 55 years. But the old wagons still soldier on...until something better comes along.
