Upgunned Stryker

Ralph Zwilling examines the M1296 Stryker Dragoon in detail.

From the early days of their service with the U.S. Army, the M1126, M1130, M1132 and M1135 were equipped with the reliable Kongsberg Protector M151 Remote Weapon Station (RWS), which could be armed for example with the 5.56mm x 45 M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and 7.62mm x 51 M240 Machine Gun. The preferred weapons of the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, however, are the cal.50 M2HB QCB Machine Gun or the 40mm Mk19 Mod 3 Automatic Grenade Launcher. After the withdrawal of the last US Army Heavy Brigade Combat Team from Europe back to the Continental United States in March 2013, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based at Vilseck, Germany and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based in Vicenza, Italy, and Grafenwöhr, Germany, were the only major U.S. ground forces continuously based in Europe. The growing tension between the US and Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine and a lack of heavy armour in Europe, the U.S. Army established the Regionally