US Army plans to rapidly field up-gunned Stryker vehicles outfitted with 30 mm cannons in spots like Europe have hit a few speedbumps, and the service will delay its first unit equipped date (FUE) from 2022 until 2023, according to an updated schedule obtained by Janes .
In late May, the service updated its Medium Calibre Weapons System (MCWS) timetable with plans to push back a production award until April 2021 and slip the FUE date. Specifically, the army is now aiming to begin fielding the weapon in late fiscal year 2022 (FY 2022) but will not reach FUE until the March-April timeframe of 2023.
US soldiers with 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment conduct a live fire exercise using the 30 mm Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle-Dragoon at the 7th Army Training Command's Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, in February 2018. The service is in the midst of a competition to decide which vendor will outfit the vehicles with the XM813 cannon but has announced a fielding delay.
These changes follow a series of delays to the army’s ongoing competition to determine which company will be tasked with outfitting Stryker DVHA1 vehicles with an XM813 cannon.
Last year, the army awarded six companies – EOS Defense Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), Kollsman, Leonardo DRS, Pratt Miller, and Raytheon – with contracts valued at up to USD150,000. Each company was given a Stryker DVHA1 and an XM813 cannon, and tasked with building a ‘production-representative vehicle' that integrates a government-provided weapon station – which includes a fire-control system, ammunition-handling system, optics system, and a 30 mm XM813 gun – onto the vehicle.
Some companies, like Raytheon, have dropped out of the competition leaving a limited pool of vendors vying for the contract.
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