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US soldiers excited about STRYKER with 30 mm cannon

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By Dylan Malyasov -
Aug 19, 2017
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As one of the first Soldiers to shoot a powerful 30 mm cannon from a new Stryker combat vehicle, Staff Sgt. Randall Engler was excited about what the weapon could do for his infantry squad.

“It’s empowering,” said Engler, of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which has asked the Army to give its Stryker fleet more lethality to deter Russia and other near-peer threats. “You’re laying that hate [on a target] with a bigger round. It’s doing a lot more damage and you’re getting better effects.”

Engler and 14 others from the regiment recently traveled from Germany to Aberdeen Proving Ground as part of a six-week test and training event on the new Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle, which is nicknamed “Dragoon” after the unit.

The Soldiers also tested the new CROWS-J system, a common remote-operated weapons station that allows troops to fire Javelin anti-tank guided missiles from the safety inside existing Stryker models.

“We try to get users on the platform early on, that’s why there are crews from [2nd Cavalry] here now,” said Col. Glenn Dean, the Army’s Stryker program manager, during a media event Tuesday at Aberdeen.

Six Stryker vehicles from each 30 mm cannon and Javelin variant are slated to head to Germany this January, where more 2nd Cavalry Soldiers will be able to share their input. The Army hopes to field the combat vehicles in a forward location next summer when the regiment’s 1st Squadron is expected to go to Poland, Dean added.

The regiment requested more firepower for its 81 Stryker ICVs due to the recent military operations of Russia, which has shown hostility in parts of Eastern Europe.

After seeing Russia’s upgraded combat vehicles during the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2015, Army leaders recognized a need to revamp the Stryker fleet.

“The Russians, it turns out, had upgraded and fielded significant capabilities while we were engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel B. Allyn said after the first Dragoon prototype was delivered in October.

The Orbital ATK XM813 30X173mm cannon used on the Dragoon is a derivative of the Mk44 Bushmaster II cannon—a highly capable, reliable and versatile weapon. Derivatives of the Mk44 fly on AC-130J gunships and are installed on Littoral Combat Ships and San Antonio class amphibious assault ships, not to mention many other weapon systems applications around the globe.

The 30mm cannon is not meant to give the Stryker the ability to take on columns of enemy advanced heavy armor offensively, but it does give Stryker units a far more robust defensive capability against those types of threats.

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Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons
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Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons

http://defence-blog.com/army/us-soldiers-excited-about-stryker-with-30-mm-cannon.html
 
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http://warfaretech.blogspot.com/2014/03/medium-caliber-effectiveness-vs-urban.html?m=1

Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) are expected to perform two main combat missions:

  • Engage light armored vehicles of the enemy using armor piercing ammunition
  • Support organic infantry by fire

In today's asymmetric battlefields including urban scenarios, the infantry needs to closely work together with their armor.

  • The infantry might pinned down by enemy fire behind cover such as walls either be it brick or adobe or concrete. In this case, the IFV must be able to effectively fire through the wall and incapacitate the enemy team behind cover.
  • In order for the infantry squad to enter a suspicious building covered by walls, the IFV is neded to create an opening thru the wall for the infantry to enter the compound.


In some parts of the world a material called Adobe (not the software company... ;) is very common in building walls.

Wikipedia defines Adobeas:
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, and/or manure), which the builders shape into bricks (using frames) and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for some of the oldest existing buildings in the world





The image below shows different calibers and types of rounds fired against a 20cm thick concrete wall.


TNO, "Capability Gap in Urban Ops", 2012

Some information on the types of rounds fired:

FAPDS: Frangible ArmorPiercing Discarding Sabot. The round breaks up upon impact with soft and hard targets. On the one hand, the projectile’s lethality is due to its penetrating power; on the other, to the effects of fragmentation. Consisting of a tungsten heavy metal alloy.

PELE: Penetrator with EnhancedLateral Effect.
Crucial to its success is the specially engineered projectile, which combines two materials with different levels of density. Containing neither a fuse nor explosives, the round’s lethality derives from its high penetrating power coupled with fragmentation, blast and incendiary effects.

APDS: Armor PiercingDiscarding Sabot.

P-ABM: Programmable Air Burst

MP: Multi Purpose

The other below shows the effects of again different calibers and types against a 80cm thick adobe wall.


TNO, "Capability Gap in Urban Ops", 2012



Adobe Hut


Conclusions from the TNO's study are remarkable:

Projectiles with fuze (20 to 35 mm HE & MP) are
NOT capable to defeat 80 cmAdobe wall
- Fragment debris in front of wall
- No fragment debris after the wall
NOT capable to breech


KE projectiles (25 to 35 mm APDS and APFDS) are
capable to defeat 80 cm Adobewall
- No fragment debris in front of wall, but during flight
- No fragment debris after the wall


PABM and KETF unprogrammed are capable to defeat 40 cm Adobe
- No fragment debris in front of wall
- Fragment debris after the wall

Frangible and PELE-PEN (25 to 30mm) projectiles are
capable to defeat 80 cm Adobe wall
- No fragment debris in front of wall
- Some Fragment debris after the wall.
 
. . . .

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