The eight-wheeled (8x8) Stryker combat light armored vehicle was adopted by the US Army in 2002 to provide a comparatively rapidly deployable contingency force with armor protection, tactical mobility, and heavy firepower, as well as advanced command, control communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities. Covering the first new US Army release since the M1 Abrams MBT, this book details the conception, ongoing development and deployment of one of the most highly anticipated new AFVs in recent years, including its service in Iraq and the ensuing controversy surrounding the Stryker's varying successes.
This illustrated modeling guide reviews the full range of kits and accessories available to model the Stryker and LAV III in all the major scales. The Stryker interim combat vehicle was a stop-gap measure, designed to help the United States project its military force in hotspots around the world. First deployed in Iraq in 2003, it has since proved itself an integral part of the US’s warfighting capability. Today the Stryker has been adapted to face the new threat of a resurgent Russia. This volume in the LandCraft series of modeling guides examines the Stryker and LAV III in US, Canadian and New Zealand service. In addition to describing the design, development, and operational history of the Stryker and LAV III, David Grummitt gives a full account of available modeling kits and accessories. Six builds are featured, covering the most important variants. Detailed color profiles provide both reference and inspiration for modelers and military enthusiasts alike.
The eight-wheeled (8x8) Stryker combat light armored vehicle was adopted by the US Army in 2002 to provide a comparatively rapidly deployable contingency force with armor protection, tactical mobility, and heavy firepower, as well as advanced command, control communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities. Covering the first new US Army release since the M1 Abrams MBT, this book details the conception, ongoing development and deployment of one of the most highly anticipated new AFVs in recent years, including its service in Iraq and the ensuing controversy surrounding the Stryker's varying successes.
The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) is responsible for the operational testing and evaluation of Army systems in development. ATEC requested that the National Research Council form the Panel on Operational Test Design and Evaluation of the Interim Armored Vehicle (Stryker). The charge to this panel was to explore three issues concerning the IOT plans for the Stryker/SBCT. First, the panel was asked to examine the measures selected to assess the performance and effectiveness of the Stryker/SBCT in comparison both to requirements and to the baseline system. Second, the panel was asked to review the test design for the Stryker/SBCT initial operational test to see whether it is consistent with best practices. Third, the panel was asked to identify the advantages and disadvantages of techniques for combining operational test data with data from other sources and types of use. In a previous report (appended to the current report) the panel presented findings, conclusions, and recommendations pertaining to the first two issues: measures of performance and effectiveness, and test design. In the current report, the panel discusses techniques for combining information.
The armored car has played a major role in American military operations since the relatively early days of the 20th Century. In 1989 Col. Royal P. Davidson arranged for the installation of a .30 caliber Colt machine gun on a Duryea light three-wheeled car. In doing so, he jump-started the development and production of armored fighting vehicles that have served in the American military ever since. Although the very first armored cars were merely outfitted with a gunshield, they were soon fully protected by armor plating. In this installment of R. P. Hunnicutt's 10-volume series on the history of American armored vehicles he details their early development through WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Beginning with the development of armored cars on American soil at the outbreak of WWI-although none were ever shipped overseas-Hunnicutt goes on to describe the production of armored cars based on commercial car and truck chassis in the 1920s. These vehicles eventually reached limited production as the armored car M4. With detailed drawings and photographs to illustrate the history, Hunnicutt describes the development of the armored car T3, which was also designated as scout car T1. The development of these lightweight scout cars, which met the needs of the cavalry, made the armored car unnecessary by 1937. Although production of armored cars stopped for the American military, American development continued on armored cars intended for British use. However, in 1942 as the Palmer Board decided to limit the weight of reconnaissance vehicles, the light armored car T22E2 was standardized as the M8 and put into production. The M8 and a variation, the M20, served in the U.S. Army until after the Korean War, with new models developed for use in Vietnam. Spanning the history of American wheeled combat vehicles, Hunnicutt's "Armored Car" is a must have for anyone with a keen interest in the history of American military operations and equipment.
Examines alternative means to decrease the deployment time for the new Army medium-weight brigade, comparing air and sealift from the United States with air and fast (but short-range) sealift from forward bases or preposition sites. Historical experience and an assessment of U.S. regional interests are used to determine how much warning time the United States typically has before major force deployments and where it is most likely to deploy such forces
This book looks at several troop categories based on primary function and analyzes the ratio between these categories to develop a general historical ratio. This ratio is called the Tooth-to-Tail Ratio. McGrath's study finds that this ratio, among types of deployed US forces, has steadily declined since World War II, just as the nature of warfare itself has changed. At the same time, the percentage of deployed forces devoted to logistics functions and to base and life support functions have increased, especially with the advent of the large-scale of use of civilian contractors. This work provides a unique analysis of the size and composition of military forces as found in historical patterns. Extensively illustrated with charts, diagrams, and tables. (Originally published by the Combat Studies Institute Press)
8 pages of full color illustrations depicting 14 different vehicles. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle was developed in the 1970s to counter the new Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Designed to survive the imagined high-intensity, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) battlefield of the Cold War, it became, alongside the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, the mainstay of US armoured forces during the 1980s. As the Cold War ended, however, it would go on to prove its worth on other battlefields. During the First Gulf War the Bradley would destroy more Iraqi AFVs than the Abrams, while during the 1990s it would prove itself an effective weapons system in the missions to Bosnia and Kosovo. During the 2003 invasion of the Iraq and the fighting that followed it confirmed its reputation as a versatile and deadly AFV. This volumes examines the development and service history of both the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle. The various modifications and improvements over its long service history are described, as is the experience of the soldiers who have fought alongside and in it during the past three decades. The book also gives a full account of the wide range of kits and accessories available in all the popular scales and includes a modelling gallery covering the most important Bradley variants. Detailed color profiles provide both reference and inspiration for modellers and military enthusiasts alike.
Armor plays a significant role in the protection of warriors. During the course of history, the introduction of new materials and improvements in the materials already used to construct armor has led to better protection and a reduction in the weight of the armor. But even with such advances in materials, the weight of the armor required to manage threats of ever-increasing destructive capability presents a huge challenge. Opportunities in Protection Materials Science and Technology for Future Army Applications explores the current theoretical and experimental understanding of the key issues surrounding protection materials, identifies the major challenges and technical gaps for developing the future generation of lightweight protection materials, and recommends a path forward for their development. It examines multiscale shockwave energy transfer mechanisms and experimental approaches for their characterization over short timescales, as well as multiscale modeling techniques to predict mechanisms for dissipating energy. The report also considers exemplary threats and design philosophy for the three key applications of armor systems: (1) personnel protection, including body armor and helmets, (2) vehicle armor, and (3) transparent armor. Opportunities in Protection Materials Science and Technology for Future Army Applications recommends that the Department of Defense (DoD) establish a defense initiative for protection materials by design (PMD), with associated funding lines for basic and applied research. The PMD initiative should include a combination of computational, experimental, and materials testing, characterization, and processing research conducted by government, industry, and academia.
