More U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq. The document discusses deficiencies in the armor protection provided by vehicles like the Stryker and up-armored Humvees. It argues that these wheeled vehicles cannot adequately protect soldiers from roadside bombs and RPGs. The document proposes using upgraded M113 Gavin tracked armored vehicles instead, which it says could better protect soldiers at a lower cost. It questions why the Army is not implementing these solutions to save soldiers' lives.

1. More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq…
or
The Army Murders Another Group
of Soldiers

2. What is the price of a Soldier’s life
or limb?
• $3.3 million each Stryker trucks
• $150K “Up armored” Humvee trucks
• Up-armored support vehicles
• $ Billions of dollars spent slapping armor
onto wheeled trucks--yet its not protecting
our Soldiers

3. Is it enough?
• It’s too much money!
• It is incorrectly directed onto wheeled
trucks that are shaped wrong and cannot
take enough extra armor!
• There are major deficiencies!
• It is an enhancement, but ....
– It is not the best we can do.
– Our boys are still dying
– We can do it cheaper & better

4. The Stryker
• It’s a heavy, large wheeled vehicle that cannot go cross-
country to avoid road ambushes
• Myth exposed: road speed cannot avoid several bombs
going off at same time at chokepoints where you must
slow down
• Additional armor overburdens the vehicle; $ repair costs
are excessive
• It’s armor is light/inadequate compared to cheaper, more
readily available M113 Gavin tracked alternatives.
• It’s is protected against small arms and distant artillery
splinters, but not RPGs and roadside bombs
• Too many Soldiers are dying in the Strykers: less than
2% of vehicles yet 4% deaths in Iraq

5. The “armored” Humvee truck
• Ad-hoc armored truck, not a solid, sloped body
• Armor overburdens suspension making the
vehicle dangerous to drive = 50% deaths in iraq
are by accidents
• Never proof-tested by the army against realistic
roadside bombs and RPGs
• Shoulder high easy to toss grenades into doors
• $150K: Expensive for the inadequate level of
protection
• Our boys are still dying in “up armored”
Humvees

6. Up-armored support vehicles
• Ad-hoc attached armor
• Lowers payload capabilities
• Makes the vehicle unstable (top-heavy)
• Splinter and bullet protection at best
• Drive train vulnerable
• A PR death trap, rather than a militarily
effective vehicle.

7. Who is Responsible?
• We are responsible:
– The American public
– The Media
– For we are not keeping the Army and
Government accountable.
• Would you buy your son or daughter a
Ford Pinto (blew up in rear impacts)?
• That’s what we are giving them in Iraq

8. The Enemy
• Road Side Bombs (RSBs)
• Land Mines
• The Soldier with a simple, Rocket Propelled
Grenade (RPG)

9. What Could be
Done Better?
M113 Gavin light tracked armored
fighting vehicles replaces trucks
• Can take heavier extra armor (protection against
RPG/RSBs) by factor of 28%, no rubber tires that burn
– $100K upgrade cheaper than Stryker
– More effective than Stryker and Humvee: can go
cross-country to avoid ambushes, no blind spots
– Available in large numbers in storage (over 2,000)
– Practice what we preach: “Going to war with the army
we have”-then let the troops have our best equipment
– Lighter and more C-130 air transportable than Stryker
trucks
– Easy-to-maintain: in existing logistic system: 14, 655
in U.S. Army service now

10. Excuses for Wheels Not true: tracks can go 60+ mph
for long distances on paved roads without damaging
them
• You want to avoid predictable roads with tracks that can
go cross-country to avoid ambushes in the first place
• Steel tracks have rubber pads that DO NOT damage
paved roads, all rubber “band tracks” are also available
• Its all about available engine power: take the governors
off our tracks and they can go as fast as you want them.
There is NO reason to have or use rubber-tired trucks on
the non-linear battlefields of today...they need to go the
way of the horse cavalry. Video Clip:
www.combatreform.org/steeltrackscango60mphonpavedroads.wmv

11. What else could be done?
• Off-the-shelf armoured logistics vehicles
• All purpose designed Armored Logistics
vehicles. XM1108 M113 Gavin variant with
Palletized Loading System = no more
“Jessica Lynch” convoys: everybody fights
and defends selves on non-linear
battlefield

12. Why are These Things Not
Being Done?
• Army “Lightfighter” Politics that dislikes
tracks because “heavy” units use them
• The Army bureaucracy is lying to the
Government & American People
• Generals don’t ride around the battlefield
• Your son and daughter is just cannon
fodder to them.