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CNN Live Saturday
Some Question Decision To Send "Stryker" Units To Iraq
Aired September 13, 2003 - 12:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the United States Army is planning its future troops around a new doctrine of lighter more mobile forces, and key to that strategy is replacing some heavy tanks with a new armored vehicle called the "Stryker." But, unlike an Abrams tank or Bradley fighting vehicle, the Stryker cannot withstand a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade and that's raising questions about the wisdom of sending Stryker brigades to Iraq.
Here's CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just this week, the Amy's new wheeled vehicle called the Stryker, got a vote of confidence from the secretary of defense who's pushing the Army to become lighter, more mobile force.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The Stryker is alive and well in America.
MCINTYRE: With a price tag of more than $1.2 million each, critics charge the Stryker is an overpriced, overweight high-tech death trap.
VICTOR O'REILLY, DEFENSE CONSULTANT AUTHOR: All the high-tech in the world won't protect you if your armor doesn't stop the RPG. You will die. It's very, very simple.
MCINTYRE: RPGs, rocket propelled grenades, have been deadly in recent attacks against U.S. convoys in Iraq. Unarmored Humvees are especially vulnerable, but only really heavy armor, Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, can take an RPG hit and keep going. In order for a Stryker and its, up to, 11 person crew to survive an RPG, it will have to be fitted with what's called slat armor, a sort-of birdcage that cause the grenade to detonate prematurely and even that's not 100 percent.
O'REILLY: It's not very effective, it leaves the top entirely vulnerable to RPGs and it leaves the wheel wells entirely vulnerable to RPGs.
MCINTYRE: Defenders including the contractor, General Dynamics, argue Stryker is not a tank and shouldn't be compared to one, and that optional 5,000 pound armor will be available next year, that bolts on and can protect against RPGs. But, the army plans to dispatch the first Strykers to Iraq later this year. Now, that it's resolved questions about whether its German-made armor can stop small arms fires.
LT. COLONEL. JOE PIEK, U.S. ARMY: No Stryker vehicles, so from here we'll deploy until all armor plates are 100 percent satisfactory. Safety is paramount.
MCINTYRE: This week, the Chinese newspaper, "Sing Tao Daily," mocked the Stryker in a story headlined "U.S. Ace Armor Carrier has Flaws."
(on camera): They insists no armored vehicle provides full protection against rocket propelled grenades, and that the Stryker is still far superior to the Humvees and the armor personnel carriers the U.S. is currently using in Iraq. And Army leaders vehemently dispute any notion that the Army's giving up too much in protection in its quest to be a lighter, faster force.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 13, 2003 - 12:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the United States Army is planning its future troops around a new doctrine of lighter more mobile forces, and key to that strategy is replacing some heavy tanks with a new armored vehicle called the "Stryker." But, unlike an Abrams tank or Bradley fighting vehicle, the Stryker cannot withstand a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade and that's raising questions about the wisdom of sending Stryker brigades to Iraq.
Here's CNN senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just this week, the Amy's new wheeled vehicle called the Stryker, got a vote of confidence from the secretary of defense who's pushing the Army to become lighter, more mobile force.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The Stryker is alive and well in America.
MCINTYRE: With a price tag of more than $1.2 million each, critics charge the Stryker is an overpriced, overweight high-tech death trap.
VICTOR O'REILLY, DEFENSE CONSULTANT AUTHOR: All the high-tech in the world won't protect you if your armor doesn't stop the RPG. You will die. It's very, very simple.
MCINTYRE: RPGs, rocket propelled grenades, have been deadly in recent attacks against U.S. convoys in Iraq. Unarmored Humvees are especially vulnerable, but only really heavy armor, Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, can take an RPG hit and keep going. In order for a Stryker and its, up to, 11 person crew to survive an RPG, it will have to be fitted with what's called slat armor, a sort-of birdcage that cause the grenade to detonate prematurely and even that's not 100 percent.
O'REILLY: It's not very effective, it leaves the top entirely vulnerable to RPGs and it leaves the wheel wells entirely vulnerable to RPGs.
MCINTYRE: Defenders including the contractor, General Dynamics, argue Stryker is not a tank and shouldn't be compared to one, and that optional 5,000 pound armor will be available next year, that bolts on and can protect against RPGs. But, the army plans to dispatch the first Strykers to Iraq later this year. Now, that it's resolved questions about whether its German-made armor can stop small arms fires.
LT. COLONEL. JOE PIEK, U.S. ARMY: No Stryker vehicles, so from here we'll deploy until all armor plates are 100 percent satisfactory. Safety is paramount.
MCINTYRE: This week, the Chinese newspaper, "Sing Tao Daily," mocked the Stryker in a story headlined "U.S. Ace Armor Carrier has Flaws."
(on camera): They insists no armored vehicle provides full protection against rocket propelled grenades, and that the Stryker is still far superior to the Humvees and the armor personnel carriers the U.S. is currently using in Iraq. And Army leaders vehemently dispute any notion that the Army's giving up too much in protection in its quest to be a lighter, faster force.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
