General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has been awarded a contract to conduct research-and-development in support of the US Army’s Stryker engineering change proposal (ECP) upgrade programme.
Awarded by the army tank-automotive and armaments command (TACOM), the $28m contract covers research, development and testing in preparation for the ECP programme, which is an engineering-development effort focused on integrating a group of system enhancement into a single upgrade programme for the Stryker eight-wheeled vehicle.
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Specifically, the research-and-development effort seeks to prepare the vehicles to accept additional army-directed requirements in the future without any impact on the current vehicle performance.
The contract does not include any production work.
General Dynamics land systems stryker brigade combat teams vice-president, Gordon Stein, said the upgrade will maintain the Stryker’s position as the army’s primary medium combat vehicle.
”This award shows the army’s long-term commitment to improving Stryker capabilities for the warfighter, while ensuring that platforms are able to integrate planned and future upgrades,” Stein said.
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By GlobalDataComprising technical upgrades, such as improved automotive and electrical power generation, chassis upgrades and improved vehicle network capabilities, the ECP programme also aims to address a vehicle’s existing size, weight, and power (SWaP)-cooling deficiencies.
The ECP-upgraded Strykers will be capable of receiving a host of new networking gear, including warfighter information network-tactical (WIN-T) and the joint battle command-platform (JBC-P).
Work under the contract is scheduled to be carried out at the company’s facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan, US, and will complete by November 2018.
Manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, the Stryker is an eight-wheel drive armoured vehicle, designed to provide infantrymen with enhanced protection and survivability from artillery fragments, roadside mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Image: the Stryker infantry combat vehicles of the US Army. Photo: courtesy of US Army.
