Service leaders consider more Strykers - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Service leaders consider more Strykers

Army leaders told lawmakers the service may add more Stryker brigades to the inventory during a June 16 Senate Subcommittee on Airland hearing.

“There are about 3,600 Stryker vehicles, and over 2,700 have been fielded to-date. There are seven Stryker brigades. One of the things the Army is looking at in terms of force structure is, do we need more Stryker brigades to provide a balanced force with different capabilities across the spectrum?” said Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson, military deputy to the Asst. Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.

At the same time, Thompson said even if new Stryker brigades are added to the service’s fleet of vehicles, there will still be a strong need for new vehicles and technologies to be developed.

“There are 1,600 combat vehicles in the Army inventory. We will need to replace some of these existing systems at some point in time, such as Bradleys, Strykers, M113s and tanks,” he said.

As part of this effort, Army leaders told lawmakers of their plans to build a new series of Ground Combat Vehicles to follow the recent cancellation of the 27-ton Manned Ground Vehicles.

“We are working very hard on the Ground Combat Vehicle. I would not be surprised if we see a family of vehicles,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army Vice Chief of Staff.