combatreform.org/armoredhmmvsstrykersfail.htm

1. More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq…
or
The Army Murders Another Group
of Soldiers

2. What is the price of a Soldier’s life
or limb?
• $3.3 million each Stryker trucks
• $150K “Up armored” Humvee trucks
• Up-armored support vehicles
• $ Billions of dollars spent slapping armor
onto wheeled trucks--yet its not protecting
our Soldiers

3. Is it enough?
• It’s too much money!
• It is incorrectly directed onto wheeled
trucks that are shaped wrong and cannot
take enough extra armor!
• There are major deficiencies!
• It is an enhancement, but ....
– It is not the best we can do.
– Our boys are still dying
– We can do it cheaper & better

4. The Stryker
• It’s a heavy, large wheeled vehicle that cannot go cross-
country to avoid road ambushes
• Myth exposed: road speed cannot avoid several bombs
going off at same time at chokepoints where you must
slow down
• Additional armor overburdens the vehicle; $ repair costs
are excessive
• It’s armor is light/inadequate compared to cheaper, more
readily available M113 Gavin tracked alternatives.
• It’s is protected against small arms and distant artillery
splinters, but not RPGs and roadside bombs
• Too many Soldiers are dying in the Strykers: less than
2% of vehicles yet 4% deaths in Iraq

5. The “armored” Humvee truck
• Ad-hoc armored truck, not a solid, sloped body
• Armor overburdens suspension making the
vehicle dangerous to drive = 50% deaths in iraq
are by accidents
• Never proof-tested by the army against realistic
roadside bombs and RPGs
• Shoulder high easy to toss grenades into doors
• $150K: Expensive for the inadequate level of
protection
• Our boys are still dying in “up armored”
Humvees

6. Up-armored support vehicles
• Ad-hoc attached armor
• Lowers payload capabilities
• Makes the vehicle unstable (top-heavy)
• Splinter and bullet protection at best
• Drive train vulnerable
• A PR death trap, rather than a militarily
effective vehicle.

7. Who is Responsible?
• We are responsible:
– The American public
– The Media
– For we are not keeping the Army and
Government accountable.
• Would you buy your son or daughter a
Ford Pinto (blew up in rear impacts)?
• That’s what we are giving them in Iraq

8. The Enemy
• Road Side Bombs (RSBs)
• Land Mines
• The Soldier with a simple, Rocket Propelled
Grenade (RPG)

9. What Could be
Done Better?
M113 Gavin light tracked armored
fighting vehicles replaces trucks
• Can take heavier extra armor (protection against
RPG/RSBs) by factor of 28%, no rubber tires that burn
– $100K upgrade cheaper than Stryker
– More effective than Stryker and Humvee: can go
cross-country to avoid ambushes, no blind spots
– Available in large numbers in storage (over 2,000)
– Practice what we preach: “Going to war with the army
we have”-then let the troops have our best equipment
– Lighter and more C-130 air transportable than Stryker
trucks
– Easy-to-maintain: in existing logistic system: 14, 655
in U.S. Army service now

10. Excuses for Wheels Not true: tracks can go 60+ mph
for long distances on paved roads without damaging
them
• You want to avoid predictable roads with tracks that can
go cross-country to avoid ambushes in the first place
• Steel tracks have rubber pads that DO NOT damage
paved roads, all rubber “band tracks” are also available
• Its all about available engine power: take the governors
off our tracks and they can go as fast as you want them.
There is NO reason to have or use rubber-tired trucks on
the non-linear battlefields of today...they need to go the
way of the horse cavalry. Video Clip:
www.combatreform.org/steeltrackscango60mphonpavedroads.wmv

11. What else could be done?
• Off-the-shelf armoured logistics vehicles
• All purpose designed Armored Logistics
vehicles. XM1108 M113 Gavin variant with
Palletized Loading System = no more
“Jessica Lynch” convoys: everybody fights
and defends selves on non-linear
battlefield

12. Why are These Things Not
Being Done?
• Army “Lightfighter” Politics that dislikes
tracks because “heavy” units use them
• The Army bureaucracy is lying to the
Government & American People
• Generals don’t ride around the battlefield
• Your son and daughter is just cannon
fodder to them.