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The United States on Thursday announced a huge $2.5 billion weapons package for Ukraine, including 90 Stryker combat vehicles, the first time Washington has committed the system to Kyiv. The new lethal assistance — announced a day ahead of a gathering of top Western military officials for the Ukraine Contact Group in Germany — includes hundreds of armored vehicles, thousands of artillery rounds and new Avenger air defense systems pulled from U.S. weapons stockpiles.

General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, MI received a $128.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) and Supporting Logistics and Engineering Products. According to General Dynamics, this is increment of a $257 million contract for 130 new eight-wheeled LAV-A2 vehicles in armored personnel (LAV-PC), anti-tank (LAV-AT), command & control (LAV-C2), logistics (LAV-L), and mortar (presumably LAV-EFSS) variants for the U.S. Marine Corps. Note that these are improved variants of the the LAV Gen II models used by the Marines et. al. since the 1980s, rather than LAV IIIs which are called Stykers in the USA. These eight-wheeled...

In Interviews, Costly Personnel Carriers Said Effective in Combat MOSUL, Iraq, April 2 -- An internal U.S. Army report detailing flaws in a new $11 billion armored personnel carrier known as the Stryker has come under criticism from soldiers who use the vehicle in combat. The Dec. 21 report cited problems with the Stryker's protective slat armor, remote weapons system and computers. The flaws, it said, placed troops "at unexpected risk" to rocket-propelled grenade attacks and raised questions about the Stryker's development for urban warfare. But in more than a dozen interviews, commanders, soldiers and mechanics who use the Stryker...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The Marines were patrolling a highway east of Fallujah when they began taking fire. They doubled back and were shot at again. The platoon pulled up along the highway and pointed its guns toward a truck stop and some men, who were dressed as civilians. “They looked like regular Iraqi citizens,” said Lance Cpl. Brad Swenson of Northfield, Minn. “It was hard to distinguish where the enemy personnel were. They’re really good at hiding themselves.” The guerrilla war in Iraq has forced the Marines of Company D, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to think twice before...

Inside The Army September 1, 2003 Pg. 1 Army Dismisses Report On Vulnerability Of Stryker As Inaccurate The Army is scoffing at a recent report on the vulnerability of Stryker, contending that while not indestructible, the vehicle is part of a capabilities package that is among the service's best options to conduct peacekeeping in Iraq, sources say. At issue is a report by Victor O'Reilly, an author who has written in the past about Stryker at the behest of House Armed Services Committee member Jim Saxton (R-NJ). O'Reilly says he has no link to the Army or defense contractors, but...

William S. Lind: How NOT to Use Light Armored Vehicles -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the Author William Sturgiss Lind, Director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation, is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, born July 9, 1947. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1969 and received a Master's Degree in History from Princeton University in 1971. He worked as a legislative aide for armed services for Senator Robert Taft, Jr., of Ohio from 1973 through 1976 and held a similar position with Senator Gary Hart of Colorado from 1977 through 1986. He...

Army Leadership and the Stryker Armored Car Program have failed 'Army Transformation' Don Loughlin; 9 October 2002; File: gg-021006a.doc (Earlier title: "The 'Shinseki Transformation Initiative' -- is a fiasco." DJL File: gg-020213E.doc) This is an update on the earlier report. Part 'A,' Addendum, below, contains new information not available when the earlier report was released in May 2002 PART 'A'. ADDENDUM Begins on Page 2 # Section: Page References 1. Introduction and Background 2 A, B, C 2. Rigged Wargames 3 D 3. Stryker Failures 3 - - - - - - - a. The Stryker is not deployable by...

WASHINGTON, July 25—Tomorrow the Army is scheduled to receive the first pre-production Stryker Mobile Gun System from prime contractor General Dynamics in Michigan. The Stryker is a key part of the Army’s effort to transform into a lighter and more agile force. Stryker is a 19-ton wheeled armored vehicle that will come in 10 different types of platforms, of which the Mobile Gun is one. General Dynamics has already delivered pre-production models of several other types of Stryker platforms. In November 2001, the Army awarded a six-year requirements contract to a joint venture between General Motors and General Dynamics...