Mobile Gun System brings the heat in Iraq

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq — The Stryker Mobile Gun System's automatic loader clinks and clanks as it feeds a high-explosive shell into the breech.

A few seconds later, the menacing cannon fires with a thunderous crack, sending a 105mm round downrange, where it blows a big hole in a dirt berm.

The new direct-fire weapon arrived in Iraq for the first time when the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, deployed 10 months ago. The MGS is one of 10 variants of the Stryker series of wheeled and armored vehicle.

The soldiers who spoke with Army Times generally approved of the new vehicle's battlefield performance, despite difficulties caused by design flaws. The most immediate shortcoming was the vehicle's lack of air conditioning, an omission that — until a solution was fielded — had crewmen patrolling while hooked up to intravenous fluids to counter triple-digit temperatures under the summer sun.

Nevertheless, "the MGS is a fine vehicle and has proven itself here multiple times," said 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, Command Sgt. Major Richard Leirdahl.

Bravo Company of 4-9 learned just how effective MGS firepower can be in May, when one part of the unit drove into an ambush near Taji.

Enemy forces detonated a huge bomb beneath one of Bravo Company's Strykers. The blast destroyed the vehicle, killing two soldiers and blowing the leg off another.

Multimedia

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/20080131rcmobilegun/">Video of the Mobile Gun System in action

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/photo/20080128rc_mgs/">A 360-degree video from inside

Small groups of enemy fighters began rushing the Bravo Company soldiers as they tried to help the wounded, recalled Capt. Jack Moore, who commands Bravo 4-9.

Bravo Company soldiers fought off their attackers, but could not knock out the intense small-arms fire that was coming from a house about 300 meters away.

One of the company's MGSs rolled into the fray and blasted the house with three high-explosive rounds.

"It destroyed the house," said Sgt. Jesse Ryland, a squad leader in 4th Platoon. "They are pretty impressive."

Each battalion in the brigade has nine MGS Strykers, each of which is armed with a stabilized 105mm cannon that can shoot on the move and destroy hardened targets out to 3,000 meters.

The MGS can carry up to 18 rounds of ammunition and is capable of firing six rounds per minute. It carries anti-tank rounds in its arsenal, but the MGS "isn't meant to go up against tanks; it's meant to support the infantry," said Moore.

The MGS's turret can rotate 360 degrees, Moore said, making it effective at scanning for enemy threats while on the move.

Its vehicle commander and gunner "can just sit there and spin as the vehicle goes down the road," Moore said at a Jan. 28 live-fire exercise here at Memorial Range, where MGSs from B and C companies practiced firing at targets out to 1,000 meters. "I love this piece of equipment."

In addition to anti-tank and high-explosive rounds, MGS can also fire anti-personnel ammunition known as canister rounds. Each canister round fires 3,200 tungsten carbide balls that resemble 00 buck shot.

When fired, these rounds turn the MGS into a giant shotgun, shredding a path 75 meters wide out to 300 meters.

"They are also good for disabling threat vehicles," said Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Tucker, 4th Platoon sergeant and MGS vehicle commander. "It peppers the whole thing, obliterates the windows and anybody who is inside."

Each time the cannon fires, the MGS lurches backward from the force of the recoil.

"We don't feel that inside," Tucker said. "The stabilization system is really good."

Twice during the Jan. 28 live fire, two MGS Strykers experienced misfires. One MGS crew solved the problem by extracting the round and reseating it into the breech. The other MGS had to come off the firing line.

Keeping cool critical

Despite the misfires, Tucker said the vehicle has few maintenance problems.

MGS crewmen here praise the effectiveness of the system but say the design needs improving.

The main concern of the unit before it deployed in April was that the MGS's cramped crew space leaves no room for air conditioning.

In the summer, three-man MGS crews had to operate in dangerously hot conditions, Moore said.

"In Baqubah this summer, it was literally 147 degrees in there," Moore said, describing how they had to hang IV bags inside each MGS Stryker. "We forced them to eat and drink, but we still had guys riding down the road with IVs in their arms."

As a quick fix, Program Executive Office Soldier supplied 4-9 in July with special micro-coolant vests that aircrew members wear to cope with the extreme heat in helicopter cockpits. These specialty garments, worn underneath body armor, feature coiled tubing that runs throughout the interior of each vest. Two small compressors mounted on the outside of each MGS circulate chilled water through the tubes.

"It keeps the core cool … some guys actually have to turn down the dial," Tucker said.

MGS gunner Cpl. Matthew Andrews agreed the vests made a huge difference.

"They work pretty well," Andrews said. "It beats pouring water over yourself."

But that doesn't solve the problem of computer systems overheating in some of the MGS Strykers, said Leirdahl.

Another challenge with the MGS design is that the huge turret partially overhangs the vehicle commander's and gunner's hatches, making quick escape no easy task, Tucker said.

"Everybody has their own technique for getting in and out of the vehicle," he said.

To compensate, they carry only the essentials on their body armor vests — ammunition and first-aid gear. In addition, crew members regularly practice evacuation drills.

Leirdahl maintains that the hatches on the MGS are noticeably smaller than those on other Stryker variants, creating a safety hazard.

"Reaching down and trying to pull a soldier out is difficult because the hatch circumference is smaller than hatches on other Strykers," he said.

The gun system has had its problems. In early 2005, before the weapon was fielded, Stryker program officials decided to redesign the sophisticated loader on the MGS to prevent jamming problems. The decision delayed fielding of the system until early 2007. Program officials had hoped to begin fielding MGS in September 2006.

The Army wants 72 MGS Strykers to outfit its seven planned Stryker brigades.

Besides the firepower MGS brings to the battlefield, 4-9 soldiers maintain that the huge cannon on this new Stryker variant also gives them a psychological edge when they roll through populated areas.

"They have seen Strykers, but they hadn't seen an MGS," Tucker said. "You just see the heads turn and the mouths hang wide open when we pass."