Stryker Combat Vehicles

Osprey continues to turn out some nice monographs on various weapons systems from around the world. In this latest installment, the author presents the Stryker series of combat vehicles. Developed from the US Marine Corps LAV-25 Piranha series of highly mobile combat vehicles, the US Army's Stryker is a more advanced machine.

The author walks through the history of the Stryker, its roots in the LAV-25, the development of the new vehicle, and a nice description of the variety of mission-specific variants of the vehicle. These include:

• M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV)
• M1127 Reconnaissance Vehicle (RV)
• M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS)
• M1129 Mortar Carrier (MC)
• M1130 Command Vehicle (CV)
• M1131 Fire Support Vehicle (FSV)
• M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle (ESV)
• M1133 Medical Evacuation Vehicle (MEV)
• M1134 Anti-Tank Guided Missile Vehicle (ATGMV)
• M1135 NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV)

The author also looks into politics that nearly scuttled the program with much of the issue revolving around the fact that the Stryker is not made in the US. Despite that, as the author later pointed out, the Stryker is more robust that heavily armored Humvees and has provided good protection from many of the threats in theater. While still vulnerable to RPG fire, the slat armor added to the Stryker has made the vehicle a far better option for combat patrols than the M113 or the Humvee.

The title is well-illustrated with interior and exterior views of the different variants of the Stryker and color plates to highlight significant details.

If you're a contemporary military armor fan, this title will help to put the Stryker family into technical and operational perspective. For the modeler, this title will be handy when the Trumpeter 1/35 Strykers arrive in the US.

Definitely recommended!