Weapon System Selected for US Stryker ICV

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The US Army has chosen Oshkosh Defense to build its new Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS) — a 30mm, unmanned turreted auto-cannon — for the Stryker combat vehicle.

The Oshkosh team is composed of Pratt Miller, which began the competition as a separate company, and was later purchased by Oshkosh. Pratt Miller was teamed up with Rafael, and the winning MCWS solution integrates Rafael’s SAMSON family of turrets onto the Stryker, according to defensenews.com.

The US Army decided to outfit three out of six of its brigades equipped with Double V-Hull A1 Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles with 30mm guns — a total of 83 vehicles per brigade — following an Army Requirements Oversight Council review evaluating the performance of the 30mm Stryker Dragoon operated in Europe. The Army chief of staff directed the Army to ensure the new MCWS capability be applied to the more mobile protected DVH ICVVA1 that will be the basis for the future Stryker fleet.

Before the recent decision, the Army conducted a thorough examination of five turret systems before selecting the MCWS among three finalists.

The first delivery order covers 91 vehicles valued at roughly $130 million. The Army could build up to six Stryker Brigades with the MCWS version so the potential contract value is roughly $942 million over six years, according to US Army announcement.