The Army is upgunning (with an actual cannon and anti-tank missiles) and up-armoring the wheeled Stryker armored personnel carrier a bit. But it really needs an active protection system to face tanks in conventional combat and have hope of surviving. That isn't working out:
In mid-2019 the U.S. Army confirmed that it is officially “still looking” for a suitable APS (Active Protection System) for its Stryker wheeled armored vehicles. Tests of lightweight versions the Israeli Trophy and the similar German ADS (Active Defense System) revealed problems with both systems when used on Stryker. The Trophy and ADS developers are seeking to address the problems encountered with Stryker which is, compared to heavier tracked armored vehicles like the M2 IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and M1 tank, less able to carry the extra weight of an APS and supply the electrical power required.
I meant to bring this issue up a bit ago:
“Unfortunately for Stryker, we have not found a system that is suitable for the platform,” Col. Glenn Dean, Stryker project manager told Defense News, said in a June 7 interview.
The Army has found interim APS for both its Abrams tank and Bradley infantry fighting vehicle but has struggled to find one for the Stryker. The service moved quickly to field combat vehicle protection against rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank-guided missiles while it develops a future system.
Trying to make the light Stryker capable of surviving against heavy cannon-armed tanks is another example of the Army hearing the siren song of achieving strategic mobility with tactical survivability. Heavy passive armor is the traditional means of protecting armored vehicles but heavy armor rules out strategic mobility (read that as airlift).
As if the Air Force has the lift to carry significant light armor to an overseas theater even if the Army could successfully solve those contradictory objectives with APS that works (and there is more than one way to skin a cat even if APS works).
In my view, the Army is making a mistake trying to turn a Stryker into a Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
We should reduce the number of Stryker brigades we have and turn a couple into actual armored cavalry regiments with actual heavy fighting vehicles and tanks (and artillery, air defense, engineers, helicopters, drones, and all the rest, of course).
