M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle

The M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) is an armoured personnel carrier and part of the Stryker family of vehicles (derived from the Canadian LAV III/Swiss MOWAG Piranha IIIH 8x8) used by the United States Army.

General

The Infantry Carrier Vehicle provides protected transport and, during dismounted assault, supporting fire for the infantry squad. The Stryker is a full-time four-wheel drive, selectively eight-wheel drive, armoured vehicle weighing approximately 19t which carries an infantry squad with their equipment. On paved roads the vehicle can attain speeds of 62 mph without a governor and 37 mph with a governor.

The basic infantry carrier vehicle (ICV) provides armored protection for the two-man crew and a squad of nine soldiers.

Digital communications system

The vehicle's commander has an FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below) digital communications system that allows communication between vehicles through text messaging and a map network, as well as with the battalion. The map shows the position of all vehicles on the battlefield and the commander can mark the position of enemy forces on the map, which can then be seen by other commanders.

Armament

The M1126 ICV has a Protector (RWS) remote weapon station with a universal soft mount cradle, which can mount either a .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun, a 40mm MK19 grenade launcher or a 7.62 M240 machine gun. It is also armed with four M6 smoke grenade launchers.

Stryker program officials are working to mount a 30 mm cannon to the ICV's remote weapons station. With the number of Stryker MGS vehicles per brigade being reduced, individual ICVs are to be up-gunned. The cannon would give greater firepower without needing to add a turret. The plan is to purchase and test a company set of 30 mm cannons and also determine if they should be issued for every Stryker or have one per company.^[2] The Army planned to test stabilized 30 mm cannons in early 2014, including Kongsberg Protech Systems' Medium Caliber Remote Weapons Station. Kongsberg (which makes the M151 RWS on the Stryker) joined with General Dynamics (which makes the Stryker) for the MCRWS in 2008. The MCRWS is not a true turret, which would extend into the crew compartment and take up space. It can be loaded from inside the vehicle, but does eliminate one of the four roof hatches.^[3]

Test firings of a 30 mm cannon in the Kongsberg MCRWS occurred on a Stryker demonstrator vehicle on 19 February 2014. The cannon showed increased lethality and accuracy over the standard .50-caliber machine gun at ranges from 600-1,550 meters, with four rounds from five-round bursts hitting the targets. Up-gunning Stryker vehicles is expected to give infantrymen greater fire superiority to end firefights quicker. The 30 mm is capable of hitting targets over 2,000 meters away and can use ammunition already in use by the AH-64 Apache helicopter. Army leaders were impressed with the demonstration and are looking to advance the proposal and add the system onto vehicles in service.^[4]

Gallery

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  Interior control station for Protector M151 Remote Weapon Station in Stryker ICV

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  Remote Weapon Station on Stryker ICV

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  Stryker ICV on patrol in Iraq

See also

• M2 Bradley
• GCV Infantry Fighting Vehicle

• List of U.S. military vehicles by model number

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Army Fact File - Stryker". Retrieved 2006-07-31. 
2. ↑ Army Looks to Mount 30mm Cannons on Strykers - Military.com, 20 September 2013
3. ↑ Army to Test Kongsberg’s New Gun on Stryker - Defensetech.org, 21 October 2013
4. ↑ Stryker demonstrates potential for increased lethality - Army.mil, 26 February 2014

This article incorporates work from http://www.sbct.army.mil/product_icv.html,[] which is in the public domain as it is a work of the United States Military.

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