How The Stryker Became a Laser & Missile-Armed Drone Killer

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) Destroying drones with Hellfire missiles, moving infantry to “close-with-an-enemy” at high speeds, incinerating helicopters with laser weapons, and firing air-burst 30mm proximity rounds at enemy troops and armored vehicles are just a few of the more recent missions U.S. Army Stryker vehicles can perform.

Stryker: A Powerful Weapon of War

The 8X8 wheeled vehicle infantry carrier has proven itself in combat for several decades and evolved into multiple variants and an increasingly lethal combat platform.

While there are many distinguishing elements of the Stryker vehicle, one key attribute is mobility.

As a wheeled vehicle, the Stryker can move at faster speeds than tracked platforms and support dismounted infantry moving to contact with an enemy. The Stryker’s mobility, for example, figured prominently in a cross-continental European convoy led by U.S. Army Europe in 2015 called the Dragoon Ride.

The concept of the convoy was to demonstrate cross-continental deployability and interoperability with key Eastern European allies close to the Russian border. As a fast speed wheeled infantry carrier, the Stryker was an optimal platform for this kind of mission.

Stryker: The Upgrades Keep Coming 

Over the years, the U.S. Army has integrated a progressive series of substantial upgrades to the Stryker vehicle to meet emerging threats. During the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, Strykers were engineered, built, and fast-tracked with what’s called a “double-V” hull for deflecting IED blast debris and protecting soldiers riding in Strykers from roadside bombs.

In more recent years, the Stryker platform has been armed with what the Army calls Maneuver SHORAD, for Short Range Air Defense. Recognizing that the Army was shifting from counterinsurgency to a great-power warfare strategic posture, the service added an integrated counter-air capability to the Stryker and armed it with drone-and-helicopter-killing Stinger and Hellfire missiles.