May 29, 2003. Copyright 2003. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Stryker force ready for combat

LONDON, May 29, Graphic News: The U.S. ArmyÕs first new armoured vehicle in two decades, along with a new fighting force, is about to be declared ready for combat missions.

Known as a ÒStryker brigade combat teamÓ, the force of 3,500 soldiers with 300 vehicles is the bridge between the ArmyÕs ageing fleet of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles and a Future Combat System of high-tech armaments still on the drawing board. 

The new force is the brainchild of Gen. Eric Shinseki, the departing Army chief of staff. Heavy forces sometimes take too much time to ship to a war zone, while light infantry lacks the staying power and lethality of a specially tailored force, says Shinseki.

In contrast to an Abrams tank, which is really a sophisticated armoured gun turret on treads, the Stryker is a medium-weight, agile, eight-wheeled vehicle that can carry troops and weapons at speeds of more than 60 miles an hour (100km/h).

The Stryker brigade, like the high-tech 4th Infantry Division, known as the Òdigital division,Ó has been conceived to operate in a full range of combat scenarios -- from high-intensity, set-piece battles to skirmishes against small groups of hit-and-run paramilitaries or civilians.

ÒItÕs absolutely powerful,Ó says Gen. Larry Ellis, commander of Army Forces Command. ÒItÕs all the right things.Ó He said he planned to proclaim the Stryker brigadeÕs Òinitial operating capabilityÓ -- military parlance for readiness for actual combat -- by Friday.

Named after two identically named but unrelated Medal of Honour recipients -- Spc. (Specialist). Stuart Stryker, killed while charging the Germans in World War II, and Spc. Robert Stryker, who died after throwing himself on a mine to save his squad in Vietnam -- the $1.5 million Stryker can withstand up to 14.5mm anti-aircraft fire and, with add-on armour, rocket-propelled grenades. 

Although not designed for heavy combat, different Stryker variations are armed with a 105mm cannon, .50-calibre machine guns, 40mm grenade launchers, a range of mortar power, tank-busting Javelin missiles and TOW guided missiles.

Designed to allow the U.S. to respond to multiple, unconventional threats around the globe, each Stryker and its squad of nine infantry and two-man crew can be carried in a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to land in rough terrain -- even an unploughed field -- or seized airfields unsuitable for the larger C-17s, which can carry three Stryker vehicles.

The certification of the Stryker vehicle is an unusual victory for Gen. Shinseki, who finishes his four-year term as the U.S. ArmyÕs top uniformed officer on June 11 and retires from active duty on August 1. 

It is rare in Pentagon history for a major new weapons programme -- and a new military fighting organization -- to be proposed, developed, built and then achieve initial operating capability, within the term of a service chief.
/ENDS

Sources: Associated Press, U.S. Army