M1128 Mobile Gun System

In 1999, the United States Army launched the Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) program to procure lightweight and transportable vehicles for a strategically deployable force requiring a much smaller footprint than heavy armour units. Although a core component of the IAV program was the infantry carrier, another was the Mobile Gun System (MGS) intended to support the force with direct gunfire. Four proposals were submitted, including one partnered between General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and General Motors (GM) Defense of Canada. By November 2000, the GDLS-GM proposal was accepted with their IAV infantry carrier designated M1126 and later given the name “Stryker”. GDLS was assigned to develop the MGS, which was type-selected as the M1128. Though suffering delays, the first M1128 would be delivered in 2002, and GDLS would receive low-rate production orders that would culminate in a total of 142 M1128s. However, rising maintenance costs and the M1128’s inability to stay as well protected as the other Stryker models led to its retirement by 2021.