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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Rangers Equipped With Strykers |
| 2005-02-24 |
| February 24, 2005: A battalion of American Rangers headed for duty in Afghanistan, is taking 16 Stryker armored vehicles with them. Normally, the Strykers are only used in mechanized infantry brigades. But since the rangers will be moving around a lot in Afghanistan, and not always by helicopter or on foot, it was thought that the Strykers would be a useful vehicle for that kind of work. The Strykers are equipped with satellite communications equipment and remote control (from inside the vehicle) gun turrets. The regular infantry who have been using Strykers in Iraq have been very satisfied with the vehicles. Normally, the rangers are "light infantry", and are trained to use helicopters or parachutes to arrive at the combat zone. In previous trips to Afghanistan, the rangers have used hummers to get around on the ground. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Foot infantry are mobilized all the time in American practice. Infantry division after infantry division were "motorized" on the fly during the Normandy breakout and pursuit. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade" in the Union Army of the Cumberland is an even older example of foot converted to dragoons, when the resources were available. Once you start putting Rangers in armored humvees, there's no good reason why not Strykers, aside from the training issue. Except expense and availability, I suppose. Aren't they busy Strykerifying a lot of brigades stateside? I know that the 2nd Cavalry is converting to Strykers, and the 28th Infantry Division here in Pennsylvania was getting ready to convert one of its heavy infantry units to a rapid-deployment Stryker brigade. There must be a lot of Stryker units training up if the 28th is getting them. Wonder what the Stryker production numbers look like? Hmm. Looks fairly restrained. Some 2000 vehicles among the various subclasses, spread out over six brigades. That's the 25th Infantry's 1st Brigade, the 2nd Infantry's brigade, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the 28th Infantry's brigade, one mentioned in Alaska (172 Separate Armored Brigade) - where's the sixth brigade? Ah! Another brigade for the 25th. Damn, that's an average cost of $4 million per vehicle - these aren't cheap rides, even before maintenance gets factored in... |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2005-02-24 9:25:46 PM |
| #2 Anonymoose - It seems to me the part about the satcom systems and the remote turret controls - not standard Stryker equipment - indicates that the Rangers may be up to something... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-02-24 9:14:11 PM |
| #1 This just plain doesn't compute. In a way, it is like issuing horses to infantry--they cease being infantry--but even more so. The Stryker is designed to work in concert with other Strykers. By comparison, the progenitor of the Stryker was used in South Africa for bush patrols in the early 1980s. But then, add that to the mission of the Rangers, which is medium to long range combat patrolling through hostile territory, and it makes no sense. Now, granted, I'm sure the Rangers can think up something creative to do with them, but they would if you gave them something else odd, like light artillery or fifteen field kitchens. The one other possibility that comes to mind is if they want to get into and out of Pakistan in a hurry. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-02-24 5:20:24 PM |