Army Needs Better Guns On Its Stryker Fighting Vehicles In Europe Fast

In 2013, the U.S. Army inactivated its last two heavy-armor brigades in Europe, sending their Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles to bases stateside.  It may not be a total coincidence that less than a year later, Russia launched a campaign to subvert and dismember Ukraine that continues to this day.  The Army has become increasingly nervous about how it would respond if the 1000+ Russian combat vehicles massed to Ukraine's east crossed the border, or if similar moves were made against NATO allies in the Baltic region.

In response, the commander of the Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany -- the closest thing the Army still has to a frontline combat unit near Eastern Europe -- sent an urgent request in March to Army headquarters for firepower upgrades of his Stryker armored fighting vehicles.  The eight-wheel Strykers aren't as heavily armored as the Army's tracked vehicles, but they're the most survivable combat system the service has on the ground in Europe, and they're easier to move than tanks.  What they lack is firepower.

Recognizing that U.S. forces would be under-gunned if called on to engage in ground combat, the Army quickly approved the request to upgrade 81 Stryker vehicles with 30 millimeter cannons capable of firing armor-piercing, air-burst and high-explosive rounds at rapid rates.  On April 23, BreakingDefense.com reproduced a memo from Army capabilities and prioritization chief Peter Bechtel validating the need for enhanced lethality of "organic direct fire weapons to support dismounted infantry when engaging like units, or those supported by light-armored vehicles."

The new guns, which would be more powerful than the 25 millimeter chain gun on the heavier Bradley fighting vehicle, would enable Stryker units to defeat attacking troop carriers, infantry in fortified positions, and other challenges that might be presented by forces such as the Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine.  When combined with overhead support from Apache helicopters equipped with similar guns and air-to-ground munitions, the Stryker units should be able to hold their own against a threat from the east.

But that raises the question of when soldiers in Europe can actually get the guns.  General Dynamics, the company that built the Stryker, says it can integrate the gun with the vehicle, conduct operational tests, and start delivering finished vehicles within 18 months -- if the Stryker Lethality Upgrade program is funded as a high priority.  That would require adding $43 million to the Army's R&D account and $283 million to its vehicle account in fiscal 2016, since the request for more firepower had not been made when the president submitted his budget request (GD contributes to my think tank and is a consulting client).

[I discovered after this piece was published that the Army late last week decided to pursue a fast-track approach to equipping European Strykers with a 30 mm cannon.  Its recommended numbers for what rapid equipping would cost in the fiscal 2016 budget are an add of $97.5 million to the R&D account for combat vehicle improvement programs and an add of $314.3 million to the wheeled & tracked combat vehicle account for Stryker modifications -- $411.8 million in all.]

Upgrades are nothing new for Stryker.  Originally conceived as a versatile fighting vehicle that would be easier to deploy than the Bradley but more survivable than light troop carriers, it has been continuously modified as battlefield conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan dictated.  For instance, some of the ten variants in which the vehicle was manufactured -- the Army bought about 4500 -- have been equipped with a "double-V hull" on their undersides that dissipates the energy from improvised explosive devices.

Additional changes are being made over time to the suspension, the engine, the drive train and the on-board electronics, based on lessons learned since the Stryker first deployed to Iraq a dozen years ago.  So mounting a 30 mm cannon on the infantry-carrier and reconnaissance versions of the vehicle in response to emergent threats in Europe is just the latest innovation in a process that likely will persist for decades to come -- especially given the Army's chronic shortage of funding for developing new combat systems.

Stryker is turning out to be a better solution to the Army's operational needs than some of its Reagan-era antecedents, due to changes in the threat.  It can be quickly deployed anywhere (a C-5M cargo plane can carry seven in a single flight) and once on the ground it is highly mobile.  In fact, on a paved road it can exceed the posted speed limit of many U.S. highways, and in rugged terrain its tires automatically adjust air pressure to match surface conditions.  Its durability is attested to by an amazing 96% readiness rate in Afghanistan, a country not noted for good roads.

But right now what matters for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Europe is getting enough firepower onto its Strykers.  With potential challenges looming along Russia's border all the way from the Baltics to Central Asia, soldiers can't wait for upgrades to wend their way down the usual path used for Army weapons purchases.  Getting upgraded Strykers to Europe would enable U.S. soldiers there to fight more effectively in a war, and if the improved Strykers get there soon enough, might help deter that war from happening at all.

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