General Dynamics Land Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command TACOM for the initial phase of the design, engineering development, fabrication and test of a Power and Data Management Architecture (PDMA) to support future Stryker upgrades and improvements.

The PDMA contract will be conducted in three phases through FY2011, concluding with the complete system-level design, integration and testing for system validation and verification. This initial phase one contract is for 12 months, through September 2007.

Using state-of-the-art technologies, the full PDMA system will provide the Stryker with the power and processing capability needed to deploy enhanced integrated capability for current fielded and future production Strykers.

Stryker, a family of eight-wheel-drive combat vehicles, is the Army’s highest-priority production combat vehicle program and the centerpiece of the ongoing Army Transformation. Stryker can travel at speeds up to 62 mph on roads with a range of 312 miles. Stryker operates with the latest C4ISR equipment and an integrated armor package protecting soldiers against improvised explosive devices, rocket propelled grenades and a variety of infantry weapons. Stryker’s current combined fleet operational readiness rate is 96 percent with more than six million miles accumulated through two completed Operation Iraqi Freedom rotations.

The U.S. Army has ordered 518 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles in FY2006. To date, General Dynamics has delivered more than 1,780 Strykers to the U.S. Army.

Significantly lighter and more transportable than existing tanks and armored vehicles, Stryker fulfills an immediate requirement to equip a strategically deployable (C-17/C-5) and operationally deployable (C-130) brigade capable of rapid movement anywhere on the globe in a combat-ready configuration. Stryker Brigade Combat Teams have operated with “historically high” mission availability rates in Iraq since October 2003, demonstrating the value of a force that can move rapidly as a cohesive and networked combined-arms combat team.

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General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 81,900 people worldwide and had 2005 revenue of $21.2 billion. The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation. More information can be found online at www.generaldynamics.com.

Sergyi Way
20.10.2006

www.army-guide.com