Double Take: Is the Chinese VN22 a U.S. Army Stryker Clone?

Video Above: Stryker 30mm Cannons

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Is China attempting a “rip-off” or copy cat version of the U.S. Army Stryker vehicle decades after its emergence? Looks that way, according to photographs and written descriptions of China’s new VN22 infantry carrier which recently made its debut at a Chinese airshow in Zhuhai, an area in the Southern part of the country.

VN22 & Stryker Similarities

Photographs in the Chinese government-backed Global Times show what looks almost exactly like a U.S. Army Stryker, just with six wheels instead of eight. The vehicle is rectangular with a cornered or edged protruding side and a weapons mount on top. The VN22 photograph also shows what looks like a rotating turret with a mounted cannon.

The Chinese paper quotes a spokesperson from the VN22s maker, China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, saying “its design is futuristic, and its front looks a bit like Iron Man.”

Even beyond it mere appearance, which is virtually identical in configuration to the U.S. Stryker, Chinese descriptions of the vehicle’s mission scope also mirror those described by U.S. Army ground vehicle commanders.

“VN22 also showed its flexibility during the operation to the audience. This armored vehicle can be used for transporting combat troops, patrol, reconnaissance, counter-terrorism and peacekeeping missions,” the Chinese Global Times writes.