The Comeback of Armor in the US Military

2015-02-03T21:21:03-05:00

Yet, as Breaking Defense reports, this trend could now partially be reversed. The 2016 budget request contains a substantial increase in funding for various tracked vehicle programs, which according to Breaking Defense have a good chance to exit the contentious budget debates unscathed due to overall strong congressional backings of the programs and the relative small amount of money asked for. Breaking Defense lists the following programs:
•$368 million for upgrades to the M1 Abrams tank, up 50 percent from $237 million in fiscal 2015.
•$225 million for upgrades to the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, up 65 percent from $136 million in 2015.
•$230 million to begin detailed design of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), a turretless support variant of the Bradley, up 150 percent from $92 million.
•$152 million to further refine the upgraded M109 Paladin howitzer — known blandly as Paladin Integrated Management or PIM up 90 percent from $80 million.
•$308 million to buy 450 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) – which replaces the old workhorse of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, the Humvee - up 86 percent from $165 million.

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/the-comeback-of-armor-in-the-us-military/

Armored forces still have a role to play in future conflicts.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Sep 27 at 2015 6:36 PM

2015-09-27T18:36:01-04:00

While we need armor, it probably needs to be more nimble since more and more we are fighting in closed spaces or cities...

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 2:28 PM

2015-10-25T14:28:55-04:00

Hopefully the budget is used to fix the broken tanks that we struggle so much to fight while training and preparing for combat.