General Dynamics' Stryker Brigade May Deploy To Iraq This Year

Bloomberg | July 16, 2003 | Tony Capaccio

[SLB]

The U.S. Army is seeking permission from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to deploy its first brigade of General Dynamics Corp.'s Stryker wheeled armored vehicles to Iraq by November, according to a defense official.

Rumsfeld may approve the Stryker deployment as early as this weekend as one of the options for replacing long-serving units in Iraq, including the 3rd Infantry Division, which arrived in the region late last year.

Deployment of a 293-vehicle Stryker Brigade -- the Army's newest weapon system -- would be the highest-profile action in any rotation order signed by Rumsfeld, who is under pressure to return the division to the U.S. amid concerns that U.S. troops may be stretched too thin around the world.

Twenty-six of the Army's 33 active duty combat brigades are deployed worldwide or training with Strykers as part of the service's effort to transform into a swifter, more lethal force.

Sixteen of the 33 brigades are in Iraq, two are in Afghanistan, and another, in Kosovo, is returning soon to Germany to be replaced by a National Guard unit. Two brigades are in Korea, and two are in Hawaii on strategic alert for a Korean contingency, said a defense official who briefed reporters on the condition he not be identified.

Any deployment of U.S. troops on a peacekeeping mission to Liberia would likely involve either an Army or Marine Corps brigade-sized unit, the official said.

Enhanced Separate Brigade

The official said Rumsfeld is being asked to authorize first- time activation for Iraq duty early next year one or two ``enhanced separate brigades'' of the National Guard that train constantly with regular Army units.

The units will likely be activated for up to 13 months, which includes up to nine-month stints in Iraq, plus training and leave before they are de-mobilized.

The active Army has about 362,680 of its 480,000 troops deployed today in about 120 countries, along with 136,000 reservists of a 555,000 pool.

The Stryker is an eight-wheel armored vehicle that can be configured in 10 versions, each performing a specialized combat mission including carrying troops.

The Stryker unit likely headed to Iraq is the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, at Fort Lewis, Washington. Two other brigades are in training.

The brigade consists of about 1,500 vehicles including Stykers, and support vehicles, and about 1,000 combat troops among its 3,614 troop total, which includes three infantry battalions.

[SLB]

I have a couple of issues here.

First, I thought the US Army owned the Stryker Brigades, not General Dynamics.

Second, all new combat vehicles have to pass live fire testing. I guess the Army is going to conduct live fire testing of the Stryker in Iraq with real live soldiers inside instead of Rummies.

[SLB]

Rummies = Dummies (hard to tell the difference sometimes)

[SLB]

Comments?

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[Fee]

Only critique of Rumsfeld is he thinks the just in time inventory approach can work in the battlefield as well as the digital business world. I think he is learning that is not always true. If we plan to subjugate Islamic terrorism world wide, we need more troops, lotsa troops designed to fight Low Tech enemy infantry and population control. We should have immediately raised a Corps of Kurdish, Shia and Sunnis who lost loved ones to Saddam and have them patrol the Baathist Triangle area around Tikrit and Baghdad. They know how to deal with those pro Saddam Sunni neighborhoods. Learn from the Romans, rule and fight by proxy, commit the Legion as last resort.

[SLB]

The Stryker Brigade Combat Team relys on total situational awareness of the battlefield for survival. That is just about impossible in the rapidly changing environment of Iraq.

[RicocheT]

"Learn from the Romans, rule and fight by proxy, commit the Legion as last resort."

Exactly, and when the legions are sent, unleash hell!

[Squantos]

We used to hang bomb blankets in our M113's and sandbag the floor and add reactive armor to the exterior for range clearances on submunition ranges. Saw what an old 66MM law warhead UXO would do to such a rig once but everyone inside survived...........low tech, saves techs sometimes.

Seems this expedition to Iraq by the contractor with the troops is not as much a test as it is a relief column whos burdened with something new and alledgedly improved........wait an see sort of thang.

Stay Safe !

[Lion Den Dan]

They may have situation awareness but are going to be hard pressed to do much about it with that lumbering pig of a vehicle.

I an like Squantos, low tech adversaries in a primative environment often require low tech solutions. Also, Free has it right about recruiting a brigade of Kurds and turning them loose. Those tinhorn Bathlessts would be history and we all could get on with Life, Liberty and the pursuit of the American Way.

[Monitor]

1) Dig trench. Fill with gasoline (we're in Iraq after all). Wait for rubber wheeled Stryker to drive through gasoline filled trench. Toss match. Watch tires burn right off the vehicle.

2) Snipe all four wheels on one side. Ass-out. Watch from distance as Stryker goes in circles.

[blackbag]

The Stryker is a 19-ton wheeled armored vehicle with 10 different versions that can be used by the Army. These vehicles have robust armor protection, can travel at speeds of about 60 mph, have parts commonality and self-recovery abilities and have a central tire inflation system. It carries a nine-man infantry squad and a crew of two and has a remote weapon station with an M2, .50-caliber machine gun or MK19, 40-mm grenade launcher. The Stryker is generally transported on the ground using trucks or the vehicles themselves, or using C-17s or C-5s. However, a key performance parameter outlined for the new family of Strykers is that they be transportable in a C-130.

[blackbag]

Interesting photo link for this

http://militaryphoto.com/Stryker%20Catalog/stryker.html

[Squantos]

I believe the C-130 "used" to be able to haul the original version. I believe they have mucked up that ability with BS mods and add on's...........SLB ????

Stay Safe Ya'll !

[SLB]

They also have run flat tires. I wonder how they do when an RPG takes a tire completely off the vehicle. Do they have "run missing" running gear?

[Fred Mertz]

Twenty-six of the Army's 33 active duty combat brigades are deployed worldwide or training with Strykers as part of the service's effort to transform into a swifter, more lethal force.

RumDum needs to work out a rotation plan for the Army and quick!

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for the pic URL, blackbag. Hope you're doing well.

[Quix]

Agree.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


See:


'Vietnam: 2003' (Which Iraq isn't)


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/947615/posts?PAGE=40
(Thread)



Signed:..ALOHA RONNIE Guyer / Vet-U.S. 7th Cavalry's Opening Days of the Vietnam War 1965-66


http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_collection.htm
(Photos)



NEVER FORGET

[Thunder 6]

Perhaps. At any rate, I think these guys will plug into the area somewhere near the one 4ID is working. Both are digital, and the SBCT brings a "Digital Bridge" that is supposed to allow it to plug into the C2 stucture of an Analog Corps HQ (V Corps I think)...

regards,

[SLB]

The FBCB2 for the SBCT and for 4ID do not communicate with each other worth a darn. Basically worthless.