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Why not heavy up light units giving them an additional/optional capability?
More Strykers Coming For The Army
January 28, 2010|Greg Grant
More Strykers Coming For The Army - Kit Up
Terror war
Whether or not the Stryker wheeled vehicle is the right vehicle for battlefield conditions in Afghanistan is a question that remains unanswered. What we do know: DOD wants a lot more of them. A drafter version of the quadrennial defense review (QDR), the once every four year congressionally mandated strategy review, has been leaked and is making the rounds in Washington defense policy circles.
The draft QDR calls for nearly doubling the number of Stryker brigades while trimming the number of heavy brigade combat teams. The Army currently has seven Stryker BCTs, six active and one reserve. The draft QDR calls for up to 13 Stryker BCTs.
Commanders lauded their performance in Iraq where the eight wheeled vehicle’s mobility and smooth ride were a big plus. In Afghanistan, however, the 5th SBCT, the first Stryker brigade to see combat there, has suffered heavy losses to IEDs, the Taliban insurgent’s force multiplier.
Influential retired Army Maj. Gen. Bob Scales wrote in a recent article that appeared in Armed Forces Journal that the Stryker is the wrong vehicle for Afghanistan. “The vehicles have proven to be too thinly armored to survive the very large explosive power of Taliban IEDs and too immobile to maneuver off road to avoid them,” he wrote.
Here’s how the draft QDR breaks down a notional future Army force structure:
* 73 total brigade combat teams (BCTs) (45 AC and 28 RC), consisting of
* 40 infantry brigade combat teams (IBCTs) (20 AC and 20 RC)
* 9 -13 Stryker brigade combat teams (SBCTs) (8-12 AC and 1 RC)
* 20 -24 heavy brigade combat teams (HBCTs) (13-17 AC and 7 RC)
* 20 - 21 combat aviation brigades (CABs) 12 - 13 AC and 8 RC
* 18 Division headquarters (10 AC and 8 RC
* 4 Corps headquarters (all AC)
More Strykers Coming For The Army
January 28, 2010|Greg Grant
More Strykers Coming For The Army - Kit Up
Terror war
Whether or not the Stryker wheeled vehicle is the right vehicle for battlefield conditions in Afghanistan is a question that remains unanswered. What we do know: DOD wants a lot more of them. A drafter version of the quadrennial defense review (QDR), the once every four year congressionally mandated strategy review, has been leaked and is making the rounds in Washington defense policy circles.
The draft QDR calls for nearly doubling the number of Stryker brigades while trimming the number of heavy brigade combat teams. The Army currently has seven Stryker BCTs, six active and one reserve. The draft QDR calls for up to 13 Stryker BCTs.
Commanders lauded their performance in Iraq where the eight wheeled vehicle’s mobility and smooth ride were a big plus. In Afghanistan, however, the 5th SBCT, the first Stryker brigade to see combat there, has suffered heavy losses to IEDs, the Taliban insurgent’s force multiplier.
Influential retired Army Maj. Gen. Bob Scales wrote in a recent article that appeared in Armed Forces Journal that the Stryker is the wrong vehicle for Afghanistan. “The vehicles have proven to be too thinly armored to survive the very large explosive power of Taliban IEDs and too immobile to maneuver off road to avoid them,” he wrote.
Here’s how the draft QDR breaks down a notional future Army force structure:
* 73 total brigade combat teams (BCTs) (45 AC and 28 RC), consisting of
* 40 infantry brigade combat teams (IBCTs) (20 AC and 20 RC)
* 9 -13 Stryker brigade combat teams (SBCTs) (8-12 AC and 1 RC)
* 20 -24 heavy brigade combat teams (HBCTs) (13-17 AC and 7 RC)
* 20 - 21 combat aviation brigades (CABs) 12 - 13 AC and 8 RC
* 18 Division headquarters (10 AC and 8 RC
* 4 Corps headquarters (all AC)
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