By Jen DiMascio

The Army is considering Stryker vehicles as an option for replacing the M113 armored personnel carrier–the highest density vehicle in the fleet.

The Army “absolutely” wants to replace the M113 family of vehicles, which has been in its inventory for 60 years, according to a senior service official. If the Army does choose Stryker as the replacement, it will have to be approved through an Office of the Secretary of Defense process, he said.

The service’s goal is to work the replacement plan through the beginning of the next year so it can be included in the fiscal year 2010 to 2015 program objective memorandum–or outyear budget plan, he said.

In the recently passed defense appropriations act, Congress provided a glimpse of the Army’s plan. Lawmakers cut the amount of funding for Stryker vehicles, but included language that lays the groundwork for a large future purchase of the wheeled combat vehicles. The Army has about 31 heavy brigade combat teams, each of which has more than 120 M113s.

Industry and congressional sources read this action as the beginning of the service’s intent to replace the tracked M113s made by BAE SYSTEMS with wheeled Strykers made by General Dynamics [GD].

The conference report on the fiscal year 2008 defense appropriations bill provides $924 million for Strykers including $342 million for the Mobile Gun System variant, which is scheduled to start full-rate production soon.

The House version of the bill recommended $1.1 billion for an eighth Stryker brigade.

The conferees said they support funding for additional Strykers “for unit sets, ready to fight fleets, maintenance replacements and to replace aging M113 troop carrier vehicles,” but they added that funding should be provided in the ’08 war supplemental.

The appropriations act asks for a report by the end of next March that should include discussion of future Stryker requirements and the plan to replace M113 carrier vehicles.

Stryker vehicles won out against the M113, made then by United Defense, in a head-to-head competition early in the decade.

But the Army has kept the M113 in service during the war in Iraq with upgraded models and add-on armor kits.

If the Army chooses Stryker, it will miss an opportunity to invest in rapidly fielding new prototypes better suited for future conflicts, said retired Army Col. Douglas MacGregor, a partner for the Potomac League who also writes for the Center for Defense Information.

Investing heavily in Stryker is a good idea if the service sees paramilitary police conflicts like the war in Iraq in its future, MacGregor said.

But future conflicts are likely to be more like Israel’s recent conflict with the Hizbollah, he said, adding in that case, armored, tracked vehicles like the German Puma, made by Rheinmetall AG and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, make more sense.