MOSUL, Iraq – An internal U.S. Army report detailing flaws in a new $11 billion armored personnel carrier known as the Stryker has come under criticism from soldiers who use the vehicle in combat.
The Dec. 21 report cited problems with the Stryker’s protective slat armor, remote weapons system and computers. The flaws, it said, placed troops “at unexpected risk” to rocket-propelled grenade attacks and raised questions about the Stryker’s development for urban warfare.
But in more than a dozen interviews, commanders, soldiers and mechanics who use the Stryker fleet daily in one of Iraq’s most dangerous areas unanimously praised the vehicle. The defects outlined in the report were either wrong or relatively minor and did little to hamper the Stryker’s effectiveness, they said.
“I would tell you that at least 100 soldiers’ lives have been saved because of the Stryker,” said Col. Robert Brown, commander of the Fort Lewis 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, which uses about 225 Strykers for combat operations throughout northern Iraq. “That’s being conservative,” he said.
Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, is home to three Stryker brigade combat teams.
The Army report found that the Stryker’s protective slat armor – essentially a metal cage that is welded to the vehicle – is effective against just half of all rocket-propelled grenades.
Soldiers and commanders said the 50 percent figure was highly misleading because it characterized shrapnel sprayed by rocket-propelled grenades detonating on the slats as a failure. But soldiers said that in such instances, most of the Stryker’s occupants remain safe. Gunners exposed from three hatches are still vulnerable, but not because of any shortcoming in the vehicle, they contended.
“That’s the operational risk you take,” said Capt. Rob Born, 30, a Stryker company commander.
The current Stryker unit in Iraq has sustained more than 250 grenade attacks in six months, including more than 70 direct hits, according to brigade figures. None has penetrated a vehicle.
Of the five soldiers killed while riding in Strykers, all were exposed from gunner’s hatches and were struck by either bullets or shrapnel from bombs, not rocket-propelled grenades.
By comparison, the previous Stryker unit here – the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, also of Fort Lewis – sustained 23 grenade attacks during its year-long tour, according to that brigade’s statistics. The Army report, compiled by the Center for Army Lessons Learned in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., was based on interviews with soldiers from the 3rd Brigade.
Despite the criticisms, the report recommended that the Army continue to install slat armor on all Strykers.
Soldiers familiar with the vehicle listed a number of flaws that they said should be addressed but said none affected the Stryker’s overall performance. Duane Debruller, chief mechanic for the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, said that in recent weeks, as the mileage of some Strykers hit 30,000, the hubs on some of the vehicles’ eight wheels would freeze, causing an axle to break. But the vehicle could still run, he said.
U.S. Army photo
U.S. soldiers say Stryker personnel carriers such as this one are saving lives in Iraq, in spite of a report critical of them.
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