The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Why Stryker Succeeded
by James Dunnigan
November 12, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
When the Stryker wheeled armored vehicle was
introduced three years ago, it promptly became a criticism magnet. The new
vehicle was widely derided as misguided and doomed to failure. That’s not
unusual. There hasn’t been a new armored American vehicle in the last
three decades that was able to enter service free of savage criticism. The
Stryker had one big advantage, as it was able to go off to war as soon as the
first Stryker units were formed. Even most critics agree that combat is the
final arbiter of which weapons really work, and which don’t. The Stryker
promptly became enormously popular with its users. What made the Stryker a
battlefield success was; speed, stealth, protection, maintainability and
gadgets.
Most critics, especially civilians, underestimated, or were simply clueless
about, the importance of speed. Being a wheeled vehicle, the Stryker could run
down cars and trucks, something even a fast tracked armored vehicle, like the
M-2 Bradley, could not do. In Iraq, where many of the bad guys rolled around in
SUVs, the Stryker could keep up. Not only that, but the fast moving Stryker
could get to places more quickly, and, in effect, make more “appointments” with
the enemy in a day. It’s what they call a “force multiplier.”
Stealthiness was another thing civilian critics had no clue about. In Iraq, the
quiet Stryker could, literally, sneak up on the enemy, especially since so many
of the raids are conducted at night. American troops quickly adapted their
tactics to take advantage of it, and these stealthy Strykers quickly put fear
in the hearts of the enemy.
Much of the criticism aimed at the Stryker had to do with it’s vulnerability to
enemy fire. In actual practice, this turned out not to be the case. The troops
have high praise for the Strykers ability to take hits, and keep on going, or
at least protect its passengers.
For older troops who had served in M-2 Bradley mechanized infantry units, it
was quickly obvious that the Stryker was a much easier (and less
time-consuming) vehicle to maintain and keep going. That meant you had more
vehicle ready to roll at any one time. That makes a difference in combat.
And then there were the gadgets. The Stryker was loaded up with communications
gear, remote control system , networking stuff and new weapons. Most of it
worked, but the young troops, raised on gadgets, found the Stryker an
entertaining vehicle to work in. And many of the gadgets made the troops more
effective or, failing that, less likely to be bored.
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