STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, yesterday delivered the first two of 72 low-rate initial production (LRIP) Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS) variant vehicles to the U.S. Army at Anniston (Ala.) Army Depot.

The Stryker MGS variant is a direct-fire infantry assault platform with a 105mm cannon mounted in a low-profile, fully stabilized, "shoot-on-the-move" turret and integrated into the Stryker chassis. It carries 18 rounds of NATO-standard 105mm main gun ammunition; 400 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition; and 3,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. It destroys enemy vehicles, equipment and hardened positions with its bunker and wall-breaching capability.

The MGS LRIP vehicles will be used for various tests and user evaluations through the fourth quarter of 2007. The Milestone C decision to begin full-rate production of the MGS variant is slated for the fourth quarter of 2007 as well.

Stryker is a family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles that can travel at speeds up to 62 mph on highways, with a range of 312 miles. It operates with the latest C4ISR equipment as well as detectors for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In addition to the MGS, Stryker vehicle configurations include: the nuclear, biological and chemical detection vehicle; anti-tank guided missile and medical evacuation vehicles; and carriers for mortars, engineer squads, command groups, and fire-support teams. The Mobile Gun System has more than 70 percent common components with the rest of the 310 Strykers that comprise a brigade combat team, which eases the unit's training and logistics burden.

The Army will have six Stryker Brigade Combat Teams by 2008. Stryker is the Army's highest-priority production combat vehicle program and the centerpiece of the ongoing Army Transformation.

Significantly lighter and more transportable than existing tanks and armored vehicles, Stryker fulfills an immediate requirement to equip a strategically deployable (C-17/C-5) and operationally deployable (C-130) brigade capable of rapid movement anywhere on the globe in a combat-ready configuration. Stryker Brigade Combat Teams have operated with "historically high" mission availability rates in Iraq since October 2003, demonstrating the value of a force that can move rapidly as a cohesive and networked combined-arms combat team.

GDLS
27.12.2005