Up to $1.2B for More Stryker APCs

Stryker APC inMosul traffic jam(click to view full) General Dynamics Land Systems recently announced that the U.S. Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command has awarded them a contract for 615 Stryker wheeled armored personnel carriers (APCs). Initial funding in the amount of $599 million was provided with the award, and GDLS says that the contract has a total potential value of $1.2 billion. Work will be performed in Anniston, AL; Sterling Heights, MI; Lima, OH; and London, Ontario, Canada. Work is expected to be complete by May 2011. The Stryker program’s production contracts began in 2000; to date, 2,550 vehicles have been fielded. The base vehicle is also known as the LAV-III (Canada) and Piranha-III (GD MOWAG Switzerland), but American Stryker family APCs are outfitted with a set of communications and electronics equipment that makes them a unique variant. That uniqueness will increase, as a set of modifications including a slightly-sloped v-hull add on, possible addition of Javelin anti-tank missiles, and other changes are currently being studied and proposed as part of a “LAV-H” variant. Strykers in the field have received mixed reviews. Their mobility on roads and advanced communications has often worked well in Iraq, though heavier IEDs began to […]