Whether or not the Stryker wheeled vehicle is the right
vehicle for battlefield conditions in
remains unanswered. What we do know: DOD wants a lot more of them. A drafter
version of the quadrennial defense review (QDR), the once every four year
congressionally mandated strategy review, has been leaked and is making the
rounds in
defense policy circles.
Stryker brigades while trimming the number of heavy brigade combat teams. The
Army currently has seven Stryker BCTs, six active and one reserve. The draft
QDR calls for up to 13 Stryker BCTs.
eight wheeled vehicle’s mobility and smooth ride were a big plus. In
however, the 5th SBCT, the first Stryker brigade to see combat
there, has suffered heavy losses to IEDs, the Taliban insurgent’s force
multiplier.
recent article that appeared in Armed Forces Journal that the Stryker is the
wrong vehicle for
“The vehicles have proven to be too thinly armored to survive the very large
explosive power of Taliban IEDs and too immobile to maneuver off road to avoid
them,” he wrote.
Here’s how the draft QDR breaks down a notional future Army
force structure:
- 73 total brigade combat teams (BCTs) (45 AC and
28 RC), consisting of - 40 infantry brigade combat teams (IBCTs) (20 AC
and 20 RC) - 9 -13 Stryker brigade combat teams (SBCTs) (8-12
AC and 1 RC) - 20 -24 heavy brigade combat teams (HBCTs) (13-17
AC and 7 RC) - 20 – 21 combat aviation brigades (CABs) 12 – 13
AC and 8 RC - 18 Division headquarters (10 AC and 8 RC
- 4 Corps headquarters (all AC)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
While Strykers may not have the serious angle steadiness they need on those mountain slopes in AFGN, there HAVE to still be better than a HMV against IEDs.
While Strykers may not have the serious angle steadiness they need on those mountain slopes in AFGN, there HAVE to still be better than a HMV against IEDs.
Guys the stryker is not a combat vehicle and only go off as easy as it did in iraq because it had open roads to run full throttle down. The soviets lost 1300 BTR 70′s and 80′s the first year they were in afghanistan before they pulled them out and pure fleeted to BMPs. In my opinion the BTRs are better combat vehicles and more moble than the strykers and the got their butts handed to them. All you have to do to destroy a stryker is throw a cup of gas on 1 tire and sert it afire. Thats it.
And that comparison between a stryker and a hummer is just stupid, Yes the stryker can take a hit much better but the hummer can actually meneuver in bad terrain and in cities.
From everything I’ve heard and read about vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, good old tanks and APCs have proven more effective under almost all circumstances than any wheeled vehicles. Apparently, that’s why Canada sent their Leopard II tanks to Afghanistan, and I heard a story that said their casualty rates dropped by more than half afterwards. Tell me what’s more intimidating and harder to kill, a 10-20 ton wheeled vehicle or a 50-60 ton tank?? Anybody else remember all of the TANKS (T-55s and T-62s) we saw during the first few months in Afghanistan?? If THEY were using them on each other, they mujst be good for something…Hell, M1s were used in the battle of Fallujah, with great success according to the guys who fought there.