US, India explore joint development of land systems

The Stryker ICVs are designed to provide users with a common platform that enables a highly mobile rapid response formation. The above picture shows a Stryker from the US Army's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team. (US Army)

The United States and India are exploring a partnership to jointly develop and produce land systems including mobility systems and howitzers.

In support of the shared commitment by the US and India to advance defence industrial co-operation, both sides have committed to jointly develop and produce military systems, potentially including land mobility systems and an extended-range version of the M777 howitzer, US Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners told Janes.

Janes understands that the land mobility systems include Stryker infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) and their joint production in India.

The Stryker ICV is the US version of the Light Armoured Vehicle III (LAV III) developed and manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems, Canada. The US Army operates more than 4,500 Strykers across multiple variants.

The Stryker is a family of 8×8 wheeled armoured vehicles, which includes multiple variants capable of performing as armoured personnel carriers (APCs), infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and so on.

According to Janes Land Warfare Platforms: Armoured Fighting Vehicles, the M1126 is the primary Stryker variant. It is an APC and provides protected mobility for an equipped section of nine infantry personnel.

The weapon options of the M1126 include a 12.7 mm M2 heavy-barrel machine gun or an Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher. The M2 provides an effective engagement range of 1,500 m at a cyclic rate of fire of 450–600 rds/min.