Initial operational tests and evaluation began in May 2003 with the Arrowhead Lightning II exercise. The contract requirement covered the supply of 2,131 vehicles.ĭeliveries of Stryker infantry carriers began in April 2002. The vehicles formed the basis of six brigade combat teams. The contract for the US Army’s interim armoured vehicle (IAV) was awarded in November 2000. The Stryker armoured combat vehicle enables the team to manoeuvre in close and urban terrain, provide protection in open terrain and transport infantry quickly to critical battlefield positions. The Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) combines the capacity for rapid deployment with survivability and tactical mobility. The vehicles were upgraded with double-V hull (DVH) to provide soldiers with additional protection against mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The eight-wheeled Stryker armoured combat vehicle is the first new military vehicle to enter service into the US Army since the Abrams tank in the 1980s.įabrication and final assembly of the vehicles were shared among plants at Anniston, Alabama, Lima, Ohio and London, Ontario. The LAV III itself is a version of the Piranha III built by Mowag of Switzerland, now part of GDLS – Europe. The M-1 tank has two main parts: a pivoting gun turret and a tracked hull.The vehicle is based on the GDLS Canada LAV III 8×8 light armoured vehicle, in service since early 2001. The turret is an armored structure supporting one or more guns - typically a heavy cannon and a couple of machine guns. The hull's job is to transport the top portion of the tank, the turret, from place to place. The hull is the bottom portion of the tank - the track system and an armored body containing the engine and transmission. Additionally, the track has heavy tread that digs into muddy surfaces, and it never goes flat like a tire. A car grips the ground with only the bottom portion of four tires, but a tank grips it with dozens of feet of track. Tracked vehicles can move easily over rough terrain because the track makes contact with a wide area of the ground. The internal combustion engine made tracked military vehicles feasible.

Earlier tracked vehicles weren't practical in battle because their steam engines were too cumbersome and unreliable. The tank's wheels ride along the moving track, just like the wheels in a car run along the road. The tank engine rotates one or more steel sprockets, which move a track made up of hundreds of metal links. Caterpillar tracks work on the same principle as a conveyer belt.

Different types of military tanks