[MediaMole]

Just to play devil's advocate.

Aren't M113s succeptable to .50 cal fire?

Aren't M113s just as or more vulnerable to RPGs as Strykers?

Is the maintenance infrastructure in place to deal with putting hundreds of miles a week on tracked vehicles?

[FlashBack]

Amazing what 8 years of neglect/cuts will do to something huh!
Not to mention people that vote for the war and then vote NOT to fund it!!!
Those same people are now the biggest finger-pointers out there....AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH...(time for MY Dean-Scream)

[Cannoneer No. 4]

They have an answer for every question. They can sell us armor upgrade packages and an entirely new maintenance infrastructure, if only we weren't so blind.

Shoultz is tied in with Hackworth. You have to wade through a lot of histrionics to get to the nuggets worth keeping.

[Future Snake Eater]

Aren't M113s succeptable to .50 cal fire?

Aren't M113s just as or more vulnerable to RPGs as Strykers?

Yep. Obviously whoever wrote this has never laid eyes on an M113. At least the Humvee is quicker. The -113 is slow and still thin-skinned. From what I've been reading the Strykers have been doing very well over there. One of them got hit with an IED, but it didn't totally demolish it and kill everyone inside like this article would have you believe.

One thing people fail to realize is just how cheap and effective an RPG is. They're powerful enough to knock the hell out of a Bradley. The only armored vehicle that's generally "safe" against it is the Abrams MBT. So unless we're going to perform all operations in the M-1 or armor everything we have to that standard, IEDs and RPGs will continue to be a problem. The enemy has tons of them, and, luckily, they can't shoot for sh*t. Not only that, but we're seizing massive weapons shipments on a fairly regular basis. We just have to keep widdling away at them.

There's supposed to be a next-gen Humvee coming out, maybe they can make engine, suspension, and armor adjustments to it so this won't be as big a problem anymore.

[Jonah Hex]

To answer your questions:

Yes.

Yes.

No.

To date, Stryker have taken hits from IEDs and RPGs that would have disabled or destroyed an APC. One Stryker has been lost to RPG fire with no loss of life.

[Lion Den Dan]

Aren't M113s succeptable to .50 cal fire?

No more succeptable than a Stryker, probably more resistant when fueled. Far more resistant than any configuration of Hummer

Aren't M113s just as or more vulnerable to RPGs as Strykers?

Late issue M113s should be more resistant to RPG than basic Stryker though I am not privy to test data and probably could not discuss it if I were. The 113 is a tough little outfit.

Is the maintenance infrastructure in place to deal with putting hundreds of miles a week on tracked vehicles?

This would require effort but IMHO a doable task. Consider the rapid destruciton of Hummers and look at the maintenance assets in Kuait plus the track maintenance assets already on hand and the task is not so overwhelming.