30mm Cannon for Stryker? Bad Move.

Thanks to Chaos34 for the link!



via Breaking Defense.

The 2nd Cavalry wants the weapons because it’s the Army’s frontline force in Europe. There are only two US combat brigades still based on the continent, the 2nd Cav in Vilseck, Germany and the 173rd Airborne in Vicenza, Italy, a light infantry formation with very few vehicles of any kind and nothing as heavy as a Stryker. The Army has no heavy tank forces permanently stationed in Europe anymore, which the House Armed Services Committee has decried as “short-sighted.”
Since Russia seized Crimea, both the 2nd Cavalry and the 173rd Airborne have deployed to the Baltic States to deter aggression and reassure those small, exposed NATO allies. (The 173rd has even trained some Ukrainian forces). Just a month ago, a 60-Stryker task force of the 2nd Cavalry conducted an 1,100-plus mile “dragoon ride” back from the Baltics to Germany by way of Poland and the Czech Republic. The maneuver showed off the Stryker vehicles’ impressive mobility: As wheeled vehicles, they do better on long road marches than tracked tanks, although their performance is worse off-road. But clearly the Army thought they were lacking in lethality — and that’s what this upgrade is intended to correct.

This is craziness!

Quite honestly this is why I sometimes think that partnering with the Army should be done on a case by case basis.  Why?  The Army focuses so hard on mechanization that it ignores lessons learned.

The Army dismisses with startling regularity the issue of dismounts.

Add a 30mm cannon to a Stryker and you're dropping at least two soldiers.

That just doesn't seem smart.  If they're worried about Russia and then nothing less than an Armored Task Force with attached artillery, attack helicopters and UAVs will do.

The Army has what it needs already to deter Russia.  This is just a money grab and a bad move.