Stryker armored vehicle simulation and a proposed weapon system Northrop Grumman

Urgent need

Since the early 2000s, the Stryker has been an armored vehicle The Pentagon expected to meet the needs of mobile infantry transportation for battlefields. However, after a period of use, the US Army discovered that the Stryker had many disadvantages, including weak armor.

By 2016, the force assessed that Active Defense Systems (APS) could handle threats such as missiles, rockets, and anti-tank ammunition to protect Stryker. However, this effort was shelved in 2019 after the US military evaluated several different solutions and were unsuccessful.

While observing field developments in the Ukraine conflict, Colonel William Venable, project manager for the Stryker Mechanized Brigade Project (SBCT), said that the US Army leadership thought it was necessary to return to the project. APS project, by page Defense News.

Speaking at a conference in the city of Arlington (Virginia), Colonel Venable said he had received requests from army forces in Europe. Specifically, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment proposed to consider a solution that can quickly equip APS for Stryker motor transport.

Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment also promptly demanded that the Pentagon equip Stryker armored vehicles with a 30mm cannon and a Universal Remote Weapon System. using Javelin anti-tank missiles. The US Army quickly deployed two programs to meet this urgent need.

M1 Abrams tank equipped with APS US Army

Some potential solutions

While planning to increase the defense capacity of the tanks M1 Abramsinfantry fighting vehicles Bradley and Stryker, currently the US Army has only successfully equipped the active interceptor system Trophy APS manufactured by Rafael for the M1 Abrams line.

The US Army currently has about 16 million USD in the fiscal 2022 budget to continue the evaluation of the Iron Fist system built by contractor IMI for the Bradley vehicle.

For the Stryker line, the force considered several options, including Rheinmetall’s APS and Rafael’s Trophy APS. However, so far they have not found a suitable interceptor system for this vehicle.

Colonel Venable said that one of the unresolved problems is that the above solutions neutralize the threat at too close a distance of Stryker. This put the soldiers moving near Stryker into an unsafe situation.

However, Colonel Venable also said that there are some potential solutions in case it is necessary to accelerate the speed of APS equipment for Stryker. He did not disclose what solutions these are, as well as the implementation time in case of needing to speed up the progress.

Before, US Army It took two years to integrate the APS into the M1 Abrams tank in Europe. The system has participated and proven effective in live-fire drills and exercises since being deployed in the region.