First Order of Double-V Hull Strykers Headed To Afghanistan By Air, Sea

First Order of Double-V Hull Strykers Headed To Afghanistan By Air, Sea
17 May 2011

Forces fighting in Afghanistan will soon receive the first order of Stryker Double-V Hull vehicles, which the Army rapidly developed to protect the soldiers against buried roadside bombs.
By June, there will be 150 Stryker DVHs in Afghanistan, with an additional 300 to be delivered in the following months, according to the Stryker program office, which celebrated the vehicle's 10th anniversary last week. While the Stryker began its life as an interim fighting vehicle the absence of a new platform in its class has made it central to the Army's warfighting strategy.
The Army, working with contractor General Dynamics Land Systems, first moved on the DVH program in January 2010 in response to an operational needs statement from Afghanistan requesting that Strykers receive increased protection. Much like the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, the DVH was tested and produced simultaneously under orders from the Defense Department.
Officials from the Army and DOD have since lauded the development of the DVH. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation, told Congress on March 9 that the Stryker is as protected as a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle and should be fielded (Inside the Army, March 14, p1).
"With regard to the Stryker double V-shaped hull, we have been doing a robust test program -- both live-fire and operational -- of that vehicle to support deployment in June 2011," he said at the time. "The preliminary results of that live-fire testing are very positive. It indicates that the Stryker Double-V Hull provides substantially increased protection to crew relative to the existing flat-bottom Strykers, as they're called, that are deployed in the theater."
The double-v hull solution is also being considered under a materiel development decision for a broader Stryker modernization program. (Source: Inside the Army)


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