The M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS) is an eight-wheeled
armored car of the
Stryker
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...
armored fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...
family, mounting a
105 mm
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
tank gun
A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can also ...
, based on the Canadian
LAV III
The LAV III, originally named the Kodiak by the Canadian Army, is the third generation of the LAV (Canada), Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, O ...
light-armored vehicle manufactured by
General Dynamics Land Systems
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is a manufacturer of military vehicles such as tanks and lighter armored fighting vehicles.
History
In February 1982 Chrysler announced the sale of Chrysler Defense, its profitable defense subsidiary, to ...
for the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
.
The MGS program emerged after the 1996 cancelation of the Army's
M8 Armored Gun System
The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) of ...
, the service's planned replacement for the
M551 Sheridan
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV ( Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to sw ...
light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...
.
The MGS will be retired by the end of 2022.
[The Army Is Ditching All of Its Stryker Mobile Gun Systems](_blank)
'' Military.com''. 12 May 2021.
History
Procurement
Background: Replacing the Sheridan
Following the end of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
some theorists believed that the existing suite of U.S. armored vehicles, designed largely to fight
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
mechanized forces in Europe, were not well suited to the lower-intensity missions U.S. armed forces would be tasked with. This led to the development of a new armored fighting vehicle designed for lower-intensity combat, rather than large-scale battle.
By 1992, the
Armored Gun System
The Armored Gun System (AGS) was a U.S. Army competition in the 1990s to design a light tank to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW-equipped HMMWVs. It was the ultimate incarnation of several research programs run in the 1970s with the aim of provi ...
emerged as a top priority procurement program for the Army.
The Army requested proposals for a 20-ton air-droppable
light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...
to replace the
M551 Sheridan
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV ( Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to sw ...
. The Army sought 300 AGS systems to go to the
82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
and the
2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Four competitive bids emerged,
and in June 1992, the Army selected the
FMC Close Combat Vehicle, Light proposal.
This was later type-classified as the
M8 Armored Gun System
The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) of ...
. In 1996, the Army canceled the AGS due to the service's budgetary constraints.
Interim Armored Vehicle
In 1999,
General Dynamics Land Systems
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is a manufacturer of military vehicles such as tanks and lighter armored fighting vehicles.
History
In February 1982 Chrysler announced the sale of Chrysler Defense, its profitable defense subsidiary, to ...
(GDLS)–Canada completed a prototype of a Low Profile Turret (LPT) Assault Gun based on the
LAV III
The LAV III, originally named the Kodiak by the Canadian Army, is the third generation of the LAV (Canada), Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family of armored personnel carriers built by General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a London, O ...
.
In October 1999, Army Chief of Staff
Eric Shinseki
Eric Ken Shinseki (; born November 28, 1942) is a retired United States Army general who served as the seventh United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2009–2014). His final United States Army post was as the 34th Chief of Staff of the Arm ...
laid out his vision for a lighter, more transportable force. He called for mid-weight brigades that would strike a balance between heavy armor and infantry.
The Army subsequently launched the
Interim Armored Vehicle
The Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) was a U.S. Army armored fighting vehicle acquisition program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors Defense proposed a vehicle based on the LAV III. The Army selected the LAV III proposal over ...
acquisition program. One of the required vehicles was the Mobile Gun System (MGS).
A team of
GM Defense
GM Defense is the military product subsidiary of General Motors headquartered in Concord, North Carolina; focusing on the defense industry needs with hydrogen fuel cell and other advanced mobility technologies. GM Defense projects include SURUS (S ...
of Canada and GDLS submitted a variant of the LPT Assault Gun to meet the MGS requirement.
United Defense LP
United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and ...
proposed an
M8 Armored Gun System
The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) of ...
(AGS) and two variants of the Mobile Tactical Vehicle Light (MTVL); one with the AGS turret and 105mm gun, and another with a 90mm gun.
Two other competing contractors submitted bids for infantry carriers, but declined to submit offers for the MGS requirement.
Unlike the infantry carrier variants, MGS prototypes were not evaluated on the Army's proving grounds. This resulted in protests from lawmakers and industry officials. The service maintained that vehicle trials would be unnecessary and complicate the competition.
GM-GDLS won the contract for both the infantry carrier and MGS, which was later type classified as the M1128.
GM-GDLS suspended work on the IAV while the Government Accounting Office evaluated UDLP's protest of the award. This protest was denied in April 2001.
Soon after the contract was awarded, the MGS IOC date slipped two years from December 2001 to November 2003. The Army allowed GM-GDLS to substitute the Stryker
ATGM variant for the MGS in the interim. In its protest, UDLP alleged that the Army had in fact known about the schedule slippage before awarding the contract, and unfairly disregarded this in their decision making.
In 2000, the Army found its existing ammunition stockpile of 105mm rounds to be in poor condition, with more than half determined to be either unusable or obsolete. The Army solicited industry to produce new ammunition to replenish the stockpile.
In March 2004, the Army approved the transfer of four AGS production vehicles to the 82nd Airborne Division to be used in Iraq. However, in June 2004, this plan was put on hold while the Army determined whether the MGS could meet the 82nd's requirements.
In August, the Army conducted an air-drop test of a Stryker
M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle
M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle (ESV) is the combat engineering variant of the Stryker wheeled armored fighting vehicle. It is issued to combat engineer squads in the US Army Stryker brigade combat teams. Models with the double V-hull upgrade are kno ...
weighted to simulate the load of the MGS. Around the same time, the Army identified issues with the air-dropability of the MGS, among the heavier of the Stryker family. Still more pervasive problems persisted with the autoloader.
In January 2005, the Army said it had ruled out fielding the AGS, saying the system lacked a spare parts inventory that would be required to maintain the vehicle for any significant length of time. The Army doubled down on its belief in the MGS, which it said it could begin fielding in summer 2006.
After a Defense Acquisition Board review, the Pentagon, in October 2004, approved limited low-rate production of the MGS. During limited production, 14 vehicles would be produced. During this time, General Dynamics redesigned the ammunition handling system to be more reliable. In November 2004, the Pentagon approved an Army request to move the vehicle into low-rate production, to total 72 vehicles.
After a Defense Acquisition Review, the Pentagon approved full-rate production of the MGS in February 2008. However, the Army chose to defer production of new vehicles while it waited to validate fixes made to the MGS.
Full-rate production was indefinitely deferred as of 2012.
In late 2013, the U.S. Army began seeking to reintroduce an airdroppable mobile airborne protected firepower platform to provide fire support for air assault forces, a capability that had been absent since the retirement of the
M551 Sheridan
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV ( Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to sw ...
in 1997. General Dynamics initially considered modifying the wheeled Stryker MGS to meet the
Mobile Protected Firepower
The Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system is a U.S. Army program to procure a light tank that is capable of providing mobile protected direct offensive fire capability. The program is part of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program. A previo ...
(MPF) program requirement,
but the company instead entered a variant of the
Griffin light tank.
Retirement
In May 2021, the Army announced they would divest all Mobile Gun Systems by the end of 2022. The decision was made following an analysis that found its autoloader had become expensive to maintain and that the M1128 had not been upgraded with a Double V-Hull, and that it was more efficient to eliminate the platform and focus on firepower improvements such as equipping Strykers with 30 mm cannons and
CROWS-J mounts, providing better distributed lethality capabilities that will not be lost from removing the MGS.
Foreign interest
Canada had liquidated about half of its fleet of
Leopard 1
The Leopard 1 (also styled Leopard I, before the Leopard 2 simply known as Leopard) is a main battle tank designed and produced by Porsche in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought ...
Main Battle Tanks
A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...
in the early 2000s, with the intention of replacing them with the Mobile Gun System, but the decision was reversed.
Design
Firepower
![Flickr - The U](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Range_fire.jpg)
The MGS's low profile turret has a small silhouette, is stabilized and mounts a
105mm M68A1E4 rifled cannon with a fume extractor and an
autoloader
An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ordnance into crew-served weapons without being an integrated part of the gun itself. The term is generally only applied to larger weapons, such as nava ...
. The vehicle is primarily outfitted to support infantry combat operations; while it could take on some of the roles of a tank, it is not primarily intended nor designed to engage in combat with main battle tanks. The MGS can store 18 rounds of main gun ammunition, 8 in the autoloader's carousel and an additional 10 in a replenisher located at the rear of the vehicle. It has a rate of fire of ten rounds per minute.
The reduced height required of the Stryker to meet the C-130 transportability requirement proved particularly challenging when applied to the MGS. The reduced distance between the muzzle brake and the hull caused blast overpressures to develop. A solution was found where the "pepper pot" could be covered by a sheet of metal.
The MGS's 105 mm cannon can fire four types of ammunition: the M900
kinetic energy penetrator
A kinetic energy penetrator (KEP), also known as long-rod penetrator (LRP), is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate vehicle armour using a flechette-like, high-sectional density projectile. Like a bullet or kinetic energy weapon, this type ...
to destroy armored vehicles; the M456A2
high-explosive anti-tank
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...
round to destroy thin-skinned vehicles and provide anti-personnel fragmentation; the M393A3
high-explosive squash head
High explosive squash head (HESH) in British terminology, or high explosive plastic/plasticized (HEP) in American terminology, is a type of explosive projectile which uses a plastic explosive that conforms to the surface of a target before detonat ...
plastic round to destroy bunkers, machine gun and sniper positions, and create openings in walls for infantry to access; and M1040
canister shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various ...
for use against dismounted infantry in the open.
Crew amenities
Because the vehicle was originally designed without
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
(A/C), crews were given cooling vests that circulate cooled water from outside the vehicle to the garment. Vehicle computers still overheated regularly. All MGS Stryker platforms have since been upgraded with A/C units. The large weapon station and relatively smaller hatch can make emergency exits difficult.
The main cannon is separate from the crew compartment. Thus, a gun stoppage during combat can be cleared only by exiting the vehicle.
Organization
As originally projected the U.S. Army allocated nine Mobile Gun Systems (3 per infantry company) to a
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
,
making for 27 Mobile Gun Systems per "
Stryker
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. It ...
brigade" in 2013, but later the Army cut the number per
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
to 10.
As of May 2017, a
Stryker brigade combat team
The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by a ...
is equipped with three platoons of MGS Strykers and three platoons of ATGM Strykers in its weapons troop.
The Army bought 142 Mobile Gun Systems in total; 3 were lost in combat. A three-vehicle MGS platoon operates organic to a Stryker infantry company, with one MGS in support of a Stryker infantry platoon.
Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS)
– Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation. 2013
See also
* AMX-10 RC
* AMOS
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* ''Amos' ...
* B1 Centauro
The Centauro is a family of Italian military vehicles originating from a wheeled tank destroyer for light to medium territorial defense and tactical reconnaissance. It was developed by a consortium of manufacturers, the Società Consortile Iveco ...
* LAV-600
The Cadillac Gage LAV-600, also known as the V-600,Army Weaponry and Equipment, Page 469. Army: The Magazine of Landpower. Volume 36, Issue No 10. October 1986. is an American light armored 6×6 wheeled vehicle, derived from the LAV-300. Developed ...
* Rooikat
The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; ) is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised 76 mm high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. The Rooikat's main armament was built with the ...
* ZTL-11
* Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle
The is a wheeled armored fighting vehicle of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.
Overview
The ''Type 16'' maneuver combat vehicle (MCV) equips designated combat units. Due to its light weight and small size, it is designed for easy depl ...
* M1134 Anti-Tank Guided Missile Vehicle
M1134 Anti-Tank Guided Missile Vehicle is a U.S. anti-tank missile carrier that is an armored fighting vehicle from the Stryker family of vehicles. As the primary tank destroyer system of the US Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), the M1134 ...
, a Stryker tank destroyer variant
* M8 Armored Gun System
The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2nd ACR) of ...
, a U.S. Army light tank acquisition program canceled in 1996
* MGM-166 LOSAT
The MGM-166 LOSAT (Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank) was a United States anti-tank missile system designed by Lockheed Martin (originally Vought) to defeat tanks and other individual targets. Instead of using a high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead lik ...
, a canceled U.S. Army line-of-sight missile
* Mobile Protected Firepower
The Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system is a U.S. Army program to procure a light tank that is capable of providing mobile protected direct offensive fire capability. The program is part of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle program. A previo ...
, an ongoing U.S. Army light tank acquisition program
* XM1202 Mounted Combat System
The Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) was a family of lighter and more transportable ground vehicles developed by BAE Systems and General Dynamics as part of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The MGV program was intended as a success ...
, a U.S. Army Future Combat Systems 20-ton tank canceled in 2011
* XM1219 Armed Robotic Vehicle
The XM1219 Armed Robotic Vehicle was an unmanned ground combat vehicle based on the MULE Platform. The ARV-A-L MULE Vehicle (XM1219) would feature integrated anti-tank and anti-personnel and reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (R ...
, a U.S. Army Future Combat Systems unmanned ground combat vehicle canceled in 2011
References
External links
{{Armoured combat vehicles
Autoloaders
Fire support vehicles
Assault guns
Post–Cold War armored fighting vehicles of the United States
Armoured fighting vehicles of Canada
General Dynamics land vehicles
Wheeled armoured fighting vehicles
Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s
Mowag Piranha