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To: tbpiper
Shinseki had some significant Balkans time, so he saw lots of wheeled armored vehicles in action; to include when the Russians used theirs to blitz down the highways at 50mph to get to Pristina before NATO at the end of the Kosovo conflict.

The advantages of the wheeled Stryker over tracked vehicles are less maintenance, higher mpg, quieter, faster on roads, less wear & tear on the highways & byways than tracks, and it carries a crew plus a full infantry squad & all their gear--something a Bradley cannot do.

That all translates to less cost, a smaller logistic tail, less vehicle "down-time", less annoyance to the locals as you aren't shaking them out of bed as you go by or grinding up their roads & curbs, and better ability to escort convoys & then chase down the bad guys either mounted or on foot. A pretty good fit for the situation in Iraq right now.

23 posted on 09/30/2003 6:19:03 AM PDT by mark502inf
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To: mark502inf
There are always teething problems with new vehicles. I've heard the Bradley was a POS to start with. As far a speed goes, I think the Marines used to have an armored go-cart with 6 recoiless rifles that would hit 60+. I would just hate to see the Stryker get over there and do the Star Wars II jump to light speed.
26 posted on 09/30/2003 6:27:28 AM PDT by tbpiper
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