WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is scrapping its Stryker Mobile Gun Systems in favor of new lethality upgrades for its fleet of combat vehicles, the service announced in a May 12 statement.
The Army decided to divest the gun systems by the end of fiscal 2022 after “a comprehensive analysis highlighted obsolescence and systemic issues with the system’s dated cannon and automatic loader,” according to the release.
The MGS version of the Stryker has a 105mm tank gun. The systems date back to the early 2000s and have provided direct supporting fires to assault infantry by destroying hardened enemy bunkers, machine guns and snipers in areas ranging from urban environments to open terrain, according to the service.
The autoloader, for instance, was the first to be installed on an Army system but has become expensive to maintain. The MGS was designed for the Stryker’s flat-bottom chassis and was never upgraded to withstand threats like improvised explosive devices or anti-tank mines, the statement explained.
The move will free up “resources and manpower” for new “critical capability,” the service stated.
“Decisions on when it is best to divest a system currently in the force are not taken lightly,” Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the Army deputy chief of staff G-8, said in the statement. “The Army has done its due diligence to ensure lethality upgrades will remain intact to provide our Stryker formations the capabilities they need in the future.”
The Army will now focus on upgraded lethality efforts, according to the statement, such as the Medium Caliber Weapons System, the Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station-Javelin, Anti-Tank Guided Missile updates and the 30mm cannon because they can “provide better distributed capability than the limited number of Stryker MGSs,” the Army stated.
“All of these enhancements have been developed and funded, and are ready to be fielded,” it added. “The divestiture of the Stryker MGS poses no impact to the industrial base as the system has been out of production for some time, and the majority of the sustainment supply chain for the MGS is included in other variants of the current Stryker fleet.”
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
