A New Armored Vehicle Is Coming to the Army. It Could Be a Game Changer for Light Units, Vets Say.
June 15, 2023
Army combat veterans are excited about the new tracked fighting vehicle unveiled by the service last week, which could give more units access to powerful guns in the field. They just want to make sure the service is ready to give those troops the spare parts and training needed to make sure soldiers can use them in firefights.
“When I was a commander in combat, I don’t think I ever said no to more firepower,” Lt. Col. John Principe of the Army’s Command and General Staff College told Military.com in a phone call.
Unveiled June 10, the M10 Booker is the first specialized armored vehicle with a tank-sized gun to join the Army in decades, a tool for wars that the service hasn’t prepared for since the fall of the Soviet Union, in which big units advance across a front that could be hundreds of miles long. The past 20 years of war in Afghanistan saw combat centered on valleys that were a dozen kilometers wide, while in Iraq, combat was mostly limited to cities after the invasion.
Four former Army combat commanders spoke to Military.com about the M10. They expressed optimism, with a common caveat that much depends on how quickly and effectively the Army puts the Booker alongside infantry.
https://news.cibassoc.org/a-new-armored-vehicle-is-coming-to-the-army-it-could-be-a-game-changer-for-light-units-vets-say/