Photo: U.S. Army
Now that the Army has shifted out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the focus for the Stryker program has shifted as well: to improving the vehicle’s lethality after years of increasing its survivability with double-V hull upgrades. The House Appropriations Committee has penciled in another $314.3 million in OCO funding in its markup to improve the Stryker’s lethality, indicating a clear shift in priorities for Congress when it comes to weapons platforms.
“The Stryker series of vehicles has provided improved force protection, agility, and mobility for the Army’s medium weight vehicle class,” the committee wrote. “The Committee is aware of efforts to improve Stryker survivability, power, and lethality while limiting growth in size and weight.”
The move falls in line with what authorizers did as well, with both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees urging the Army to turn its focus to improving the lethality of Strykers after spending years worrying about protecting soldiers in them from improvised explosive devices.
That focus on safety “did degrade vehicle mobility,” the HASC wrote, “and may have caused the Army to defer investments in vehicle lethality.”
Now that fears of IEDs have subsided with the department of the Army from Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress now feels that the Army can focus more thoroughly on the neglected aspect of lethality for these workhorse vehicles.
The HAC isn’t ignoring survivability upgrades, however, also adding $106.3 million to upgrade another 36 Strykers to the double-V hull configuration.