The US Army is looking to begin fielding the Stryker 8x8 armoured vehicles upgraded through the ICVVA1-30mm lethality package in early 2025 following the completion of Follow-on Operational Testing and Evaluation in May, the service has stated.
In early September, the US Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Ground Combat Systems revealed that over the next three years, three Stryker formation across the US Army will benefit from what it described as a “major firepower and capability upgrade” through the ICVVA1-30mm package.
The ICVVA1-30mm will replace the predecessor ICVD “Dragoon” vehicle, providing “much needed upgrades”, the PEO stated.
The Stryker 8x8 armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is one of the US Army’s central armoured mobility capabilities, with more than 2,400 units delivered by General Dynamics between 2005-2021, according to GlobalData.
In service with the US Army, the platform is based on the GDLS Canada LAV III 8×8 light armoured vehicle, itself a version of the Piranha III built by Mowag of Switzerland, now part of GDLS – Europe.
Stryker is available in ten variants, including infantry carrier vehicle, commander’s vehicle, medical evacuation vehicle, fire support vehicle, engineer squad vehicle, anti-tank guided missile carrier, mortar carrier, reconnaissance vehicle, mobile gun system, and nuclear, biological, and chemical reconnaissance (NBCR) vehicle.
The ICVD Dragoon, which the new ICVVA-1 lethality Stryker will replace, is itself a relatively recent programme of record for the US Army, being initiated in July 2015 in response for an operational need for land forces based in Europe for “improved or upgraded lethality of organic direct fire weapons”.
In 2015 the US Army approved the upgrade of 81 Strykers to the Dragoon standard.
Both the ICVD and ICVVA-1 feature a turret-mounted 30mm main gun, although a potential weakness for the then new ICVD variant was identified by the US Army in FY2017 due to the “stowage of the 30mm ammunition in the ICVD represent[ing] a unique vulnerability not present for other Stryker vehicles”.
In 2022 Oshkosh Corporation’s subsidiary Oshkosh Defense delivered the first upgraded Stryker Double-V Hull Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICVVA1) to the US Army of 269 contracted platforms, featuring the 30mm Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS). In June 2021, the US Army selected Oshkosh Defense and partners Pratt Miller Defense and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to integrate the 30mm MCWS onto the Stryker ICVVA1.
US GAO issued 2023 warning on lethality upgrade
In March 2023, a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stated that the US Army’s bid to upgrade the firepower of its Stryker 8x8 combat vehicle in response to increased competition from Russia resulted in hardware and software issues impacting the platform.
Published on 20 March, the GAO report stated that as the US Army sought to upgrade its existing Stryker vehicles with more firepower, it did so without “fully analysing and addressing potential production risks”, resulting in issues arising during the programme.
According to the GAO, the US Army “did not fully implement leading practices for acquisition” to mitigate production risks which were introduced, in part, by using a different turret and chassis than what was tested in Germany during earlier Stryker lethality increase testing.
Since production started in March 2022, the US Army has found problems with the contractor's manufacturing processes as well as software issues, reported the GAO.
The consequences of the problems to the Stryker upgrade resulted in the US Army halting acceptance of vehicles in February 2023, after 19 had been delivered.
