"This is a much better vehicle for the HMMWV's combat role..."
I'm not so sure about that. Exactly how is this thing "light"? I've heard too many horror stories about HMMWVs getting trapped in tight quarters in towns and the excitement of reversing a convoy under fire. If you need a tank, you need a tank; if you don't need a tank, you don't want a tank.
In today's wars, you almost certainly don't ever want a tank. If you want armor, you want a Stryker. I saw several soldiers lose their lives in M1 Abrams tank, and not a single in a Stryker during combat. Due to the extremely large mufflers that run the length of both sides, the Strykers are so quiet and they are fast enough that by the time they are upon you, you don't know it. In Mosul, our unit was known as the Ghost Riders by the locals due to them never knowing we were there until we were right up on them. The only soldiers we lost in a Stryker while I was in country (03-04) was one that flipped off a bridge and went face down in river mud. They were trapped inside :(
On the other hand, the Abrams tanks suffered many casualties as it is very loud and slow moving. Insurgents have time to emplace IEDs or (worse!) EFPs which with enough 120mm artillery shells, will quite trivially take out a tank at close range. The slow moving heavy armor of the cold war doesn't work in today's asymetric warfare. Here is a slightly photoshopped picture of a Stryker I took at the Palace in Mosul: http://www.digitalprognosis.com/album/images/iraqpics/the-st... Note the bird cage armor which stops RPGs cold.
Source: I was US Army and am a vet of OIF II (UAV Platoon D Troop 1-14 Cavalry 4th Brigade 2nd Infantry Division) in country around 2003-2004 (during the Fallujah offensive)
Comments
"This is a much better vehicle for the HMMWV's combat role..."
I'm not so sure about that. Exactly how is this thing "light"? I've heard too many horror stories about HMMWVs getting trapped in tight quarters in towns and the excitement of reversing a convoy under fire. If you need a tank, you need a tank; if you don't need a tank, you don't want a tank.
In today's wars, you almost certainly don't ever want a tank. If you want armor, you want a Stryker. I saw several soldiers lose their lives in M1 Abrams tank, and not a single in a Stryker during combat. Due to the extremely large mufflers that run the length of both sides, the Strykers are so quiet and they are fast enough that by the time they are upon you, you don't know it. In Mosul, our unit was known as the Ghost Riders by the locals due to them never knowing we were there until we were right up on them. The only soldiers we lost in a Stryker while I was in country (03-04) was one that flipped off a bridge and went face down in river mud. They were trapped inside :(
On the other hand, the Abrams tanks suffered many casualties as it is very loud and slow moving. Insurgents have time to emplace IEDs or (worse!) EFPs which with enough 120mm artillery shells, will quite trivially take out a tank at close range. The slow moving heavy armor of the cold war doesn't work in today's asymetric warfare. Here is a slightly photoshopped picture of a Stryker I took at the Palace in Mosul: http://www.digitalprognosis.com/album/images/iraqpics/the-st... Note the bird cage armor which stops RPGs cold.
Source: I was US Army and am a vet of OIF II (UAV Platoon D Troop 1-14 Cavalry 4th Brigade 2nd Infantry Division) in country around 2003-2004 (during the Fallujah offensive)
It's light compared to current MRAPs.