US Army's getting rid of Stryker MGS

[John Kettler]

Thought this would be of interest to the CMBS and CMSF2 players. Whether it has any direct relevance to either game is in BFC's hands. SOFAIK, neither game extends this far forward in time. Wonder what will replace the Stryker MGS? Am thinking something like Nona might be good, since it would combine the ability to fire potent HE directly and indirectly, including PGMs.

https://www.sofmag.com/army-to-ditch-the-stryker-mobile-gun-system/?fbclid=IwAR1Vi-XqEc4g3zdIa93OSdFI3LuOLgw-ftFer0vNCgx-gaiUcEEK49j_oxA

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited May 14, 2021 by John Kettler

[BarendJanNL]

Maybe something like the Patria Nemo 120mm on a Stryker chassis. It can fire both directly and indirectly, so it can also be used as a sort of assault gun against bunkers, fortified positions etc. While it may miss the anti-vehicle capacity then, the variants armed with javelins will compensate that.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Its been coming for years, red flag was when they slashed vehicle counts in the SBCTs from 3 to 2. 

[Erwin]

Even in CM2, the Stryker MGS was very hard to use and seemed like a "stonker".

[SimpleSimon]

It made quite a bit of sense when the thinking behind it was that it could plink targets too far out for an autocannon while maintaining stand-off distance from infantry anti-tank weapons. It helped that it outranges some first generation ATGMs and even the SACLOS ones can have their command link severed by blasting the launcher while the missile is still in flight. FAF missiles are making that all a bit of a problem now. 

 From the start though the MGS life has been pretty ugly. Most of the complaints arrayed against the Stryker family in general were sort of dubious-comparing it to the M113 or even the Bradley etc when it wasn't meant to be peer to either of those vehicles-both of which are tracked. The gun system however had a lot of serious issues that were never fully resolved-like the internal cooling system that didn't work necessitating the addition of a big vulnerable air conditioning unit on the side of the vehicle. The gun carousel is also separate from the crew compartment-so a malfunction requires the crew to dismount in order to fix it. Some complaints are also being made about the vehicles vulnerability to IEDs but those i'm not sure are very fair. Everything except specially designed V-hull movers are vulnerable to IEDs. The MGS might've been a particular brew-up risk though. 

I actually found them extremely useful in the games, but the games don't cover a lot of the headaches that came with the vehicle in real life. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by SimpleSimon

[Sgt Joch]

I can't say I am surprised, the MGS never lived up to its potential. It was an interesting concept on paper back when the Stryker BCT was supposed to be air deployable and able to fight on its own, but SBCTs have always been in combat with other troops and there is nothing a MGS can do that a tank or artillery cannot do easier and cheaper.

Add to that the maintenance issues, limited ammo, poor spotting ability and the fact that it is a big vulnerable target.

[MikeyD]

Pentagon could have obtained a simple 90mm Mecar medium pressure gun to chuck HE for close infantry support a decade before Stryker MGS came out. But Stryker needed to be the NATO standard 105mm gun... though it couldn't fire standard rounds because steel shell casing tended to jam in the breech. Anyway, Stryker MGS's preferred round was HESH which has the same muzzle velocity as a smoke shell. So basically after all that trouble is was just a medium pressure HE chucker, anyway.

[Apocal]

On 5/15/2021 at 2:32 AM, SimpleSimon said:

Some complaints are also being made about the vehicles vulnerability to IEDs but those i'm not sure are very fair. Everything except specially designed V-hull movers are vulnerable to IEDs. The MGS might've been a particular brew-up risk though. 

It was never given the V-hull that upgraded Strykers were. And from what I understand, that tied into the issue of reducing their unit counts in SBCTs. It was less an on-high decision than simple acknowledgement Stryker units had begun to cannibalize their MGS to keep a portion running.