STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - The U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) a delivery order valued at $138 million for 99 additional Stryker combat vehicles.
The vehicles will be used to meet Army materiel requirements. This increases the Army's Fiscal Year 2005 Stryker procurement from 576 to 675 vehicles; deliveries will begin in 2006 and continue through 2007.
The vehicles are part of a $4 billion contract awarded in November 2000 to equip the Army's new Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with more than 2,100 Stryker armored vehicles. To date, more than 1,000 Strykers have been delivered.
Stryker Brigade Combat Teams have operated successfully in Iraq since October 2003, demonstrating the value of a force that can move rapidly as a cohesive combined-arms combat team. The armored vehicles enable Stryker Brigade Combat Teams to maneuver easily in close and urban terrain, while providing protection in open terrain. Performance highlights include C-130 transportability; networked command, control, computing and communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capability; integral 14.5mm armor protection and 152mm artillery airburst protection; self-deployment and self-recovery capability; reduced vehicle acoustic signature; ability to carry a nine-man infantry or engineer squad; and bunker and wall breaching capability.
Stryker is the Army's highest-priority production combat vehicle program and the centerpiece of the ongoing Army Transformation. The Stryker family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles can travel at speeds up to 62 mph on highways, with a range of 312 miles. Stryker vehicle configurations include carriers for mortars, engineer squads, infantry squads, command groups, and fire support teams; a nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance vehicle; anti-tank guided missile and medical evacuation vehicles; and the Mobile Gun System, a 105mm cannon mounted in a low-profile turret that is integration into the Stryker chassis.
Rae Higgins
20.04.2005