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Interim Armored Vehicle
The Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV), previously known as the Medium Armored Vehicle (MAV), was a U.S. Army armored fighting vehicle acquisition program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors Defense proposed a vehicle based on the LAV III. The Army selected the LAV III proposal over three other submissions. The LAV III was renamed Stryker.
In a June 1999 communique, U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki said "our heavy forces are too heavy and our light forces lack staying power." He called for heavy units to be "more strategically deployable, and more agile with a smaller footprint, and light forces must be more lethal, survivable, and tactically mobile."
In remarks at Association of the United States Army meeting in October, Shinseki laid out his vision for a lighter, more transportable force. He called for a mid-weight unit that would strike a balance between heavy armor and infantry. Shinseki said such a unit would be especially capable for operations short of war. The Army was to do this by investing in an interim fleet that would herald the way to a much more advanced subsequent generation of vehicles (later called Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicles).
Shinseki said one of his goals was to reduce the service's logistics footprint, which makes up 90 percent of its lift requirement. He expected to make this possible by building future fighting vehicles on a common chassis and using mutually compatible ammunition. He proposed that these vehicles be light enough for intra-theater airlift via C-130. He expected that the generation of vehicles after its next fleet would be wheeled, which would be up to 70 percent lighter than the interim fleet.
The technology for Shinseki's desired force was not expected to be ready until beyond 2010. In the interim, Shinseki sought to bring a prototype unit, using commercial off-the-shelf technologies, online by the end of the fiscal year.
The Army conducted a Platform Performance Demonstration at Fort Knox in January 2000. The demonstration was intended to inform the Army about what was available as well as assess each vehicle's adaptability to the new brigades and their potential for the insertion of new technology to improve its capabilities. Vehicles assessed included the Pandur, the M1117, the LAV III and LAV III assault gun variant, the Dragoon APC, the Bionix 25, the LAV 300 Mark II, the 6x6 Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé, the TPz Fuchs, the GDLS Dragoon, the Mobile Tactical Vehicle Light and the M8 Armored Gun System.
Commonality between vehicles was seen as a desired, but not essential characteristic. As of February 2000, the Army believed that most of the Medium Armored Vehicle variants would be based on the infantry carrier vehicle variant. The mobile gun system (MGS) and howitzer variants would be permitted to share less commonality. In March 2000, the Army confirmed it would award up to two contracts. In February, Major General John Caldwell had said the Army would only award one contract, rather than splitting the contract among two winners. In April, Shinseki said the Army had no preference of wheeled versus tracks but said "management could be pretty challenging," if both wheeled and tracked options were chosen.
The 3rd Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, a heavy brigade at Fort Lewis, became the first to be converted into a Stryker Brigade beginning around March 2000. The U.S. Army outfitted the unit with LAV IIIs borrowed from Canada, which served as the main surrogate for the IAV. Others included the Lynx, TPz Fuchs, B1 Centauro and M113.
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Interim Armored Vehicle
The Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV), previously known as the Medium Armored Vehicle (MAV), was a U.S. Army armored fighting vehicle acquisition program. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors Defense proposed a vehicle based on the LAV III. The Army selected the LAV III proposal over three other submissions. The LAV III was renamed Stryker.
In a June 1999 communique, U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki said "our heavy forces are too heavy and our light forces lack staying power." He called for heavy units to be "more strategically deployable, and more agile with a smaller footprint, and light forces must be more lethal, survivable, and tactically mobile."
In remarks at Association of the United States Army meeting in October, Shinseki laid out his vision for a lighter, more transportable force. He called for a mid-weight unit that would strike a balance between heavy armor and infantry. Shinseki said such a unit would be especially capable for operations short of war. The Army was to do this by investing in an interim fleet that would herald the way to a much more advanced subsequent generation of vehicles (later called Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicles).
Shinseki said one of his goals was to reduce the service's logistics footprint, which makes up 90 percent of its lift requirement. He expected to make this possible by building future fighting vehicles on a common chassis and using mutually compatible ammunition. He proposed that these vehicles be light enough for intra-theater airlift via C-130. He expected that the generation of vehicles after its next fleet would be wheeled, which would be up to 70 percent lighter than the interim fleet.
The technology for Shinseki's desired force was not expected to be ready until beyond 2010. In the interim, Shinseki sought to bring a prototype unit, using commercial off-the-shelf technologies, online by the end of the fiscal year.
The Army conducted a Platform Performance Demonstration at Fort Knox in January 2000. The demonstration was intended to inform the Army about what was available as well as assess each vehicle's adaptability to the new brigades and their potential for the insertion of new technology to improve its capabilities. Vehicles assessed included the Pandur, the M1117, the LAV III and LAV III assault gun variant, the Dragoon APC, the Bionix 25, the LAV 300 Mark II, the 6x6 Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé, the TPz Fuchs, the GDLS Dragoon, the Mobile Tactical Vehicle Light and the M8 Armored Gun System.
Commonality between vehicles was seen as a desired, but not essential characteristic. As of February 2000, the Army believed that most of the Medium Armored Vehicle variants would be based on the infantry carrier vehicle variant. The mobile gun system (MGS) and howitzer variants would be permitted to share less commonality. In March 2000, the Army confirmed it would award up to two contracts. In February, Major General John Caldwell had said the Army would only award one contract, rather than splitting the contract among two winners. In April, Shinseki said the Army had no preference of wheeled versus tracks but said "management could be pretty challenging," if both wheeled and tracked options were chosen.
The 3rd Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, a heavy brigade at Fort Lewis, became the first to be converted into a Stryker Brigade beginning around March 2000. The U.S. Army outfitted the unit with LAV IIIs borrowed from Canada, which served as the main surrogate for the IAV. Others included the Lynx, TPz Fuchs, B1 Centauro and M113.