Stryker Combat Vehicles

Reviewed by John Prigent

Summary

FirstRead

The Stryer is America’s newest combat vehicle in service, and contrary to what many believe its name is not a deliberate misspelling of Striker but a tribute to two Medal of Honour winners.

After a short overview of APC history and the MOWAG Piranha series from which Stryer was developed we get the story of its selection and development. The basic vehicle and its many variants are described in fair detail, as is the new Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Combat use in Iraq is covered by three pages, this being such a new vehicle that it only has a short history in action.

There are plenty of photographs for modellers, and the plates give a reasonable overview of its appearance in several versions though alas they show no unit markings – though some are visible in the photographs so we do know that they are carried, making this a curious omission. The author gives a very fair view of the pros and cons of the Stryker, chosen to be air-portable but in fact only marginally so. As a wheeled vehicle it is cheaper to buy, maintain and operate than anything on tracks but of course doesn’t have the same cross –country ability.

I am left with the impression that although it’s good for Iraq the US Army has fallen into the classic trap of acquiring equipment for the last – in this case present – war and tactics instead of preparing for what may come later. Read this book and make up your own minds.

Recommended

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review sample