Modified Stryker Could Serve as Main Platform for FCS Vehicles

NetDefense | 26 August 2004

[SLB]

Dean Lockwood, a weapons systems analyst for Forecast International, says that a modified version of the U.S. Army's Stryker vehicle could end up serving as the primary platform for the service's manned ground vehicle portion of FCS. He says that Stryker's proven effectiveness in battle, combined with the Army's recent decision to push back portions of the FCS manned ground vehicle development, could cause Congress to divert money from FCS to Stryker. "The main point I have about it is that while the ground FCS vehicle is being pushed back, [the Army] has yet to be set on any concrete design," Lockwood said. "It hasn't decided if the [FCS vehicle] will be tracks or wheels. As soon as Stryker became combat proven, you see Congress giving more money to the Stryker program. To me, that is a sort of ominous sign for the 'mythical' FCS vehicle."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks.

[noodler]

Okay doesn't need tracks.Nice pics!

[MarineBrat]

Hey Noodler, I used to live on 2300 block of Tulane. Quite a few aeronautical sights to behold there!

MarineBrat

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I was gonna ask what aircraft were in the pictures, but I found this Link:

Military transport aircraft pictures
C-141 Starlifter, C-130 Hercules and more

[BobinIL]

So is the Stryker a good vehicle or not? The first reports I heard about it was that it had some shortcomings. primarily it can get stuck easily due to the wheels all tracking one behind the other. How many stikers can be carried on an airplane? Also, if the army wants light weight AFV's why not refit the old Sheridan tank chassie with an upgraded turret and main gun? If I remeber right the sheridan could be dropped by parachute.

[FreeInWV]

I thought you might like this:

http://kumawar.com/SamarraStrykerAssault/overview.php

A stryker game.

[68skylark]

I'm not sure your questions have a good answer -- maybe someone else here knows better than I do. As this article points out, the FCS is pretty much a mythical beast -- no one has ever seen one. No one knows if it has wheels or tracks, or other basic parameters (like its weight). I guess a few years ago the Army figured they'd have a good consensus about what the FCS should look like by now, but in the meantime there's been no consensus. Maybe the Stryker will evolve into the FCS -- that seems to be the suggestion of this article.

Yeah, I like driving my '68 convertible. I only have the 350 engine in it -- it's fast enough for me!

[FreedomPoster]

I think yes. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will comment. Then again, perhaps not.

[Southack]

In all fairness, our recent Afghan and Iraqi operations have changed our thinking about what we want and where we're going with FCS and battlefield mobility.

Heck, FCS started out originally as the M1A3 main battle tank concept. It may very well wind up back there, too.

Heavy armor has disproved the old critics against "tanks in urban areas."

5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

[Jonah Hex]

Well, a C-17 could actually haul three of the Strykers. You may have to trade off number of vehicles for aircraft range, but the capability is there.

And yes, it's been done.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Found this:

__________________________________________________________________

Return to Industry Projects Index
STRYKER 8-WHEEL DRIVE ARMOURED COMBAT VEHICLES, USA

Stryker is a family of eight-wheel drive combat vehicles, transportable in a C-130 aircraft, being built for the US Army by General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada (formerly General Motors Defense) and General Dynamics Land Systems Division of USA. Stryker is based on the GDLS Canada LAV III 8x8 light armoured vehicle, in service since early 2001. The LAV III is itself a version of the Piranha III built by Mowag of Switzerland, now part of GDLS - Europe. Fabrication and final assembly of the vehicles is being shared among plants at Anniston, Alabama; Lima, Ohio; and London, Ontario. The Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) combines the capacity for rapid deployment with survivability and tactical mobility. The Stryker vehicle enables the team to manoeuvre in close and urban terrain, provide protection in open terrain and transport infantry quickly to critical battlefield positions. The contract for the US Army's interim armoured vehicle (IAV) was awarded in November 2000. The vehicles are to form the basis of six Brigade Combat Teams. The contract requirement covers the supply of 2,131 vehicles. Deliveries of Stryker infantry carriers began from General Motors London, Ontario, plant in March and General Dynamics Anniston, Alabama, facility in April 2002. Over 450 vehicles have been delivered and one SBCT has been fielded. The second SBCT will be declared operational in late summer 2004 and the third will begin receiving vehicles in May 2004. The eight-wheeled Stryker is the first new military vehicle to enter service into the United States Army since the Abrams tank in the 1980s. Initial Operational Test and Evaluation began in May 3003 with the Arrowhead Lightning II exercise. In November 2003, the Stryker entered operational service with the US Army, when a Stryker brigade landed in Kuwait. Stryker brigades are deployed in Iraq and a Stryker vehicle first entered combat in December 2003. VARIANTS Stryker variants include the Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) and the Mobile Gun System (MGS). There are eight configurations of the ICV including Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBC RV); Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM); Medical Evacuation Vehicle (MEV); Mortar Carrier (MC); Engineer Squad Vehicle (ESV); Command Vehicle (CV); Fire Support Vehicle (FSV); and the Reconnaissance Vehicle (RV). They have parts commonality and self-recovery abilities and are equipped with a central tire inflation system. The Reconnaissance Vehicle is fitted with the Raytheon Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3). The system includes a second-generation Horizontal Technology Initiative (HTI) thermal imager, day TV and eyesafe laser rangefinder. The US Army is to enhance the system by lengthening the sensor mast to 10m, increasing the range to 10km. STRYKER INFANTRY CARRIER VEHICLE The Stryker is a full time four-wheel drive, selectively eight-wheel drive, armoured vehicle weighing approximately 19t. The vehicle can attain speeds of 62mph on metalled roads and has a maximum range of 312 miles. The basic infantry carrier vehicle (ICV) provides armoured protection for the two-man crew and a squad of nine infantry soldiers. The basic hard steel armour is augmented by applique panels of lightweight ceramic/composite armour produced by a team led by IBD/Deisenroth Engineering of Germany. The armour provides integral all-round 14.5mm protection against machine gun rounds, mortar and artillery fragments. RPG-7 protection is optional. In Iraq, in January 2004, Stryker vehicles were outfitted with a "cage" of slat armour, which encircles the vehicle about 18in from the main body, as protection against rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Add-on reactive armour kits will be fielded from March 2005. The ICV has a Kongsberg Remote Weapon Station with a universal soft mount cradle, which can mount either a 0.50 caliber M2 machine gun, MK19 40mm grenade launcher or MK240 7.62mm machine gun. It is also armed with four M6 smoke grenade launchers. The vehicle's commander has an FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below) digital communications system that allows communication between vehicles through text messaging and a map network, as well as with the battalion. The map shows the position of all vehicles on the battlefield and the commander can mark the position of enemy forces on the map which can then be seen by other commanders. FBCB2, "the tactical internet", includes the Raytheon AN/TSQ-158 Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS). The Stryker driver has three M-17 periscopes and a DRS Technologies AN/VAS-5 Driver's Vision Enhancer (DVE). The vehicle commander has seven M45 periscopes and a thermal imager display with video camera. STRYKER MOBILE GUN SYSTEM GM GDLS delivered eight pre-production Stryker Mobile Gun Systems to the US Army between July 2002 and March 2003. Low-rate initial production (LRIP) of 72 additional mobile gun variants is underway at General Dynamics' Anniston, Alabama, facility. Full-rate production is to begin in late 2005. Stryker MGS has also been selected by the Canadian Army, which plans to acquire 66 systems to replace Leopard 1 tanks. The Stryker Mobile Gun System variant consists of the basic vehicle with a General Dynamics Land Systems fully stabilized shoot-on-the-move Low Profile Turret. The turret is armed with a M68A1E4 105mm cannon with muzzle brake and an M2 0.50 calibre commander's machine gun. The Stryker Mobile Gun System can fire 18 rounds of 105mm main gun ammunition, 400 rounds of 0.50 calibre ammunition and 3,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. Curtiss-Wright Corp's Vista Controls supplies the fully automated ammunition loading and replenishing system. Two M6 smoke grenade launchers are also fitted. The Mobile Gun System has the same C4ISR communications and driver's vison equipment as the ICV, but the gunner has three periscopes and a compact modular sight with dual field of view day and thermal channels. The MGS also has detectors for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. An advantage to the Brigade Combat Teams in having the mobile gun vehicle of the same Stryker family of vehicles is the commonality across the entire capability and the reduced logistics requirement. The Stryker mobile gun does not require a track-vehicle mechanic as would be required for example for the deployment of an M-8 mobile armoured gun system. TRANSPORTATION Stryker can be transported on the ground using trucks or by air on C-17, C-5 and C-130 aircraft. The C-5 and C-17 aircraft can carry seven and four Strykers respectively. The C-130H can fly safely carrying a maximum 38,000lb load for up to 1,000nm. The Stryker's weight, 36,240lb, and size are within the payload limit of the C-130H. The C-130 can operate from smaller airfields in more remote locations. All configurations of the Stryker can disembark from the C-130 in combat ready status.  Click here for printable version				The Stryker eight-wheel infantry carrier vehicle (ICV) is in production for the US Army.
				The Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) combines the capacity for rapid deployment with survivability and tactical mobility.
				Stryker is the first new military vehicle to enter service into the United States Army since the Abrams tank in the 1980s.
				The ICV has a Remote Weapon Station, which can mount either a 0.50 caliber machine gun or a 40mm grenade launcher.
				The first Stryker ICV was delivered to the US Army in March 2002.
				Stryker vehicles will equip six Brigade Combat Teams.
				The ICV commander has an FBCB2 "tactical internet" digital communications system.
				The Stryker ICV has a road speed of 62mph and a range of 312 miles.
				The US Army's requirement is for 2,131 Stryker vehicles.
				Stryker is based on the chassis of the LAV III light armoured vehicle in service since early 2001.

	Moog Components Group (formerly Poly-Scientific) - Motion, Fiber Optic, Electronic and Communication Solutions (Electromechanical and Electrohydraulic Equipment)

Terms and Conditions

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

To see the Images go here:

STRYKER 8-WHEEL DRIVE ARMOURED COMBAT VEHICLES, USA

[oyez]

bump

[Cannoneer No. 4]

So is the Stryker a good vehicle or not?

Depends on who you ask.

It also depends on your definition of "good."

Beware the simple answer.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Your pics didn't come out. When I try that view source I have to go find the HTML for each pic and manually cut & past the url from the properties of the pic to get it to post properly. Don't know why that is.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Post that Stryker Howitzer post from the M1A3 thread over hear.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Southack]

August 2004

Army Eyeing New Artillery Systems

by Harold Kennedy

The U.S. Army gradually plans to modernize its field artillery systems, in an effort to replace aging platforms and introduce advanced technology. In anticipation of increased spending on new weaponry, companies have in recent months unveiled a number of technologies targeting future Army and Marine Corps needs.

A case in point is a new 105 mm self-propelled howitzer just entering the marketplace. General Dynamics Land Systems, of Sterling Heights, Mich., and South African’s Denel (Pty) Ltd., recently demonstrated the howitzer—which consists of a Denel gun turret mounted on one of GDLS’s LAV III light armored vehicles—to Army and Marine Corps officers and representatives from Britain, Canada, and Australia.

The 17.5-ton howitzer was fired first on the beach at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the site of the Air Armament Center. The targets, measuring six by eight feet, were located deep over the horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. Eglin has 133,000 square miles of water ranges in the gulf that are used for weapons testing.

Then, the gun was loaded into a C-130, flown to Fort Sill, Okla., site of the Army’s Field Artillery School, and fired again. For safety reasons, the weapon was fired remotely, controlled from a nearby bunker.

The howitzer can pump out eight rounds a minute in indirect fire at targets up to 30 kilometers away, said James D. Vickrey, director of GDLS artillery programs, to reporters at the Eglin demonstration. The projectiles are loaded automatically from an internal 32-round magazine, reducing the crew size to no more than three members, he said.

A variety of rounds are available, including smoke, illumination, high-explosive, and pre-formed fragment versions, Vickrey noted. Each category produces its own useful effect, he said.

For nighttime operations, the illumination round “lights up the whole world,” but “the big killer” is the PFF, he said. It sprays thousands of tungsten balls wherever it hits. That “pretty much wipes out a soccer field,” he said. “This is not your father’s 105.”

GDLS spent $5 million of its own funds on the project, and teamed up with Denel in October 2003 to develop the demonstration model, Vickrey said. Denel is a major producer of long-range artillery systems.

GDLS officials said the demonstrator could be adapted to the future combat systems that the Army is developing to replace its current family of armored vehicles. Plans call for the FCS to include five varieties of manned ground vehicles, including a non-line-of sight cannon. GDLS is teamed with United Defense LP, of Arlington, Va., to design the future combat vehicles.

In 2003, United Defense demonstrated a 155 mm non-line-of-sight cannon, featuring a modified version of the M777 lightweight, towed howitzer.

The 105 mm weapon also could be placed atop a variation of the Stryker eight-wheeled, armored combat vehicles that GDLS is building for the Army, company officials asserted.

The mortar carrier variant of the Stryker includes a 60 mm weapon and a 120 mm version. Mortars fire indirectly, high over obstacles to hit relatively close targets.

The Army currently doesn’t have a requirement for a 105 mm self-propelled howitzer, said Lt. Col. Greg Kraak, chief of Futures Integration at the Field Artillery Center at Fort Sill. But the Army is interested in learning about the capabilities of the GDLS system, he told reporters at Eglin. “What appeals to us is that the fact that it can be loaded on a C-130.”

The Army’s current self-propelled howitzer is the M109A6 Paladin 155 mm, the most recent version of a 40-year-old design. The Paladin—built by United Defense—weighs 32 tons, nearly twice the weight of the GDLS demonstrator, and requires a large aircraft—a C-5 Galaxy or C-17 Globemaster—for transport.

The Paladin’s heft makes it difficult to deploy rapidly in response to fast-breaking regional crises. Heavy artillery can be deployed by ship, but the process takes weeks and sometimes months.

The Army had planned to replace the Paladin with the Crusader, another 155 mm self-propelled howitzer from United Defense. Its weight had been trimmed down to less than 40 tons, light enough to fit two into a single C-17. Pentagon leaders, however, decided that the Crusader still was too heavy, and in 2002 cancelled the program.

The services are planning the next generation of artillery to fit inside the C-130, officials explained. In part, this is because the C-130—unlike other transports—can land on rough, dirt fields as short as 1,400 feet. The C -17 requires 3,000 feet, and the C-5 needs 4,900 feet.

The Air Force has far more C-130s than of the other two transports. At last count, the service had 126 C-5s and 113 C-17s. It plans to increase its number of C-17s to 180 by 2008. By comparison, the Air Force has more than 500 C-130s. With those numbers, Kraak said, “we’ll continue to tap the C-130s.”

The Army has two C-130-transportable artillery pieces. Both are towed, not self-propelled, and both are aging. They are the M198 155 mm medium howitzer, made by the Rock Island Arsenal, in Illinois, and the M119A1 105 mm originally designed by the United Kingdom’s Royal Ordnance.

The U.S. Army and Marines intend to replace their 25-year-old M198s with BAE’s M777, a 155 mm towed howitzer that began low-rate initial production in 2003. During that same year, it test-fired the M777 with the XM982 Excalibur GPS inertial navigation-guided projectile. Excalibur is designed to provide precision-strike capability for artillery, with 10-meter accuracy at a maximum range of 40 kilometers.

The M119A1, which was first fielded to the Army in 1989, also is coming to the end of its service life in coming years, Kraak said. “We’re going to have to find a replacement for it.” The Army,” he said, is “looking at a number of systems.”

Among the new technologies now being marketed to the Army is United Defense’s variable-volume chamber cannon, called the 105 mm V2C2. In February, United Defense test-fired the V2C2 using a 105 mm round and a 155 mm modular charge. The weapon can be integrated with a 20-ton class combat vehicle or configured as a towed platform, said Jim Unterseher, UDLP’s Army program director.

“We believe this cannon system offers a cost-effective 105 mm solution for the Army field artillery,” he said.

The variable volume chamber allows the Army to use the M231 and M232 modular artillery charge system that is already in its inventory. That would enable artillery units to employ only one family of propellants for 105 mm and 155 mm systems.

In March, United Defense signed an agreement to lead marketing efforts in the United States for Giat Industries’ Caesar 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, originally built for the French Army. The Caesar, which is mounted on a 6 x 6 truck, is C-130 transportable, said Tom Rabaut, president and CEO of United Defense. The agreement with Giat “has the potential for United Defense to produce the howitzer system for United States requirements,” he added.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1563

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Darksheare]

I'm still no fan of the Stryker, but it has performed better than expected.
But when compared to the selling points it was pawned off with -it's an ugly dog.

Hopefully they don't market the Stryker as BEING the FCS and kill the FCS program itself.
It'd be nice to see if they've changed the suspension at all.
The original suspension was only supposed to cart around, what, 15 tons?
And now carts about 25 tons?
With the added weight it was throwing tires and shredding them, plus breaking suspension components.

With any sanity, the next revision will address some of the 'issues' the current vehicle has and can be retrofitted to prior units.

But still, yikes.