The Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems [GD] a $712.3 million order for 300 Stryker DVHA1 vehicles as well as a $257.6 million low-rate initial production order for the new M10 Booker Combat Vehicle.
The deal for the Strykers, in the upgraded Double V Hull-configuration (DVH) A1, was placed under a $2.5 billion production contract the Army awarded to GD Land Systems in 2020.
“Stryker is the Army’s largest combat vehicle fleet – combat-proven, cost-effective, highly mobile, versatile, sustainable and transportable,” Gordon Stein, GD Land Systems’ vice president of U.S. operations, said in a statement on Monday. “We are proud that our innovation, research, development and investment have evolved the Stryker into a next-generation platform for Stryker Brigade Combat Team formations and beyond.”
The DVHA1 Stryker contract awarded in 2020 covered upgrades to the latest version of the platform, which includes enhancing the vehicle’s engine, improved suspension, increased on-board electrical power and new computing technologies (Defense Daily, June 10 2020).
The new $257.6 million LRIP order for M10 Bookers was included in the Pentagon’s contracts announcement on Monday evening, with work expected to be completed by October 2025.
General Dynamics beat out BAE Systems last June to build the Army’s new M10 Booker, and was awarded a $1.14 billion contract covering delivery of up to 96 vehicles under low-rate initial production (Defense Daily, June 28 2022).
The deal began with an initial delivery order for 26 vehicles, with Army officials recently confirming the first production delivery is slated for this November.
Earlier this month, the Army announced the official M10 Booker designation for the platform, which had been previously called Mobile Protected Firepower, with the service naming the new combat vehicle after two soldiers killed in action during the Iraq War and World War II (Defense Daily, June 12).
Maj. Glenn Dean, program executive officer for ground combat systems, said at the time the Army will conduct additional testing with the initial production M10 Bookers in the lead-up to the initial operational test and evaluation period in late 2024 or early 2025, with an aim to achieve a First Unit Equipped milestone in late 2025.