[historian1944]

A LAV-III with a turret cannot carry a full 9 man squad, or else we would have bought it. The swim requirement was dropped because it was incompatible with the changes we required due to the sometimes mutually exclusive and competing performance parameters in the ORD.

Since the beginning of the program I have argued against the current ammo can configuration, to no avail. Putting a 7.62 machinegun on the vehicle would further degrade the capabilities you are already saying are inadequate to do the task. M240s shoot at a much faster rate than the M2 does, so the ammo change problem doesn't go away.

We had a battalion of Strykers here on Balad for a few months, clearing out the perimeter. They found a lot of arms caches, and attacked quite a few people intent on placing explosives on the MSRs and ASRs. It's not the perfect vehicle for the job in all respects, but it is getting the job done, as this article shows, with a minimum loss of life of crew.

[gatorbait]

It seems to me that Stryker fills the niche of a ground cavalry vehicle , in the tradition of the M8 among others. Looks like thus far, it is doing the job,which is a relief.

Oh, for those who have some interest in such things, Allegedly, soon(like mid summer) there is supposed to be a 1/35th scale model of the Stryker .Don't know yet who will kit it, just heard we'll see one.