The Project Manager for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team yesterday said the office received approval from the Army Acquisition Executive to begin procurement of a 3rd brigade of Stryker Double V-Hull (DVH) vehicles.
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| Stryker DVH Photo: General Dynamics |
The new DVH brigade will be produced using the Stryker Exchange Program, which was initiated by the PM SBCT, in partnership with Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) and General Dynamics [GD] Land Systems, responding to an Army requirement for additional DVH vehicles at a reduced overall cost.
General Dynamics, the original equipment manufacturer of the Stryker family of vehicles, has received a $118 million contract for the initial 66 vehicles. The rest are planned in the future. The procurement of the 3rd brigade–337 total vehicles–will be based on the availability of funding using an incremental approach.
Deliveries will begin in July 2014 and be completed by February 2015, General Dynamics said in a statement.
The Army expects to execute the entire procurement during fiscal years 2014-2016, subject to availability of funding.
The Army currently has nine Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with the traditional flat bottom hull, and two with the newer DVH design. The first brigade of DVH Strykers was fielded in 2011. The new hulls increase soldier protection from roadside bombs and IEDs. With MRAP-like or better survivability, GD said the configuration includes a more rugged suspension system that greatly improves mobility and reduces operating costs. The two DVH brigades were produced between July 2010 and July 2013.
The procurement of the 3rd brigade will be made by exchanging one flat bottom hull brigade for a newer DVH.
“While the fleet as a whole will be more modernized the total number of Strykers within the Army’s inventory will go unchanged,” said David Dopp, the project manager for the Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
“To maximize the use of fiscal resources, the Army and GD developed the DVH exchange program to validate if components from the traditional Stryker FBH variants could be expeditiously refurbished and installed on a new, more survivable DVH, at less cost than producing a new vehicle,” Dopp said.
The process includes reusing common parts from FBHs, refurbishing them, and re-using the parts in the new DVH structure. The initial exchange vehicles were so successful that the Army has agreed to produce the 337 vehicles of the new brigade using this process.
“This is a solid example of how the Army and industry are working together to find mutually beneficial solutions to common challenges,” said Brig. Gen. David Bassett, the Army’s program executive officer for Ground Combat Systems. “These types of partnerships between the Army and industry are critical, especially as we continue to look for ways to modernize the Army’s Stryker fleet to get the best vehicles to our soldiers, while trying to minimize costs to the taxpayer.”
Final assembly work on the DVH vehicles will be done at ANAD and help sustain 80 jobs supporting the program. The contract will also preserve several jobs at General Dynamic’s plant in Scranton, Pa.