Stryker unit sent to Iraq

A brigade that uses the new stryker armored personel carrier will rotate to Iraq soon.

"...The brigade draws its name from the new, high-tech vehicle it uses, an eight-wheeled, 20-ton armored troop carrier. The brigade has 300 Stryker vehicles, and each carries a $1.5 million price tag.

"They were designed to fill the gap between the "heavy" but cumbersome Cold War-era armored forces and the rapid but less-lethal "light" units, such as airborne brigades."

"...John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military policy group, said the vehicles are designed for stability and support operations -- 'what happens after major combat operations and before peace.'

"He said he believes the Stryker vehicles will strike a better balance between tanks and Humvees.

"'One of the problems we have in Iraq right now is that we're annoying the local population with these tanks,' Pike said. 'We're either ripping up the roads with tanks and mechanized units. Or our light units are getting hit with rocket-propelled grenades and shot up.'

"In urban combat, the Stryker vehicles can get down narrow streets. 'With a tank,' Pike said, 'anything smaller than a superhighway, and you have a problem.'"


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