Pentagon to ship Strykers to North Macedonia

By Evan Ochsner / November 29, 2022 at 3:02 PM

The Pentagon will ship an estimated 54 Stryker combat vehicles to NATO member North Macedonia, an Army spokesperson told Inside Defense.

The Pentagon publicly announced on Nov. 17 that it had awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $147 million firm-fixed-price contract for Strykers. Though the contract was posted publicly, the destination and quantity of the sale had not been released publicly.

North Macedonia, a Balkan state of former Yugoslavia, will use the Strykers to set up a vehicle brigade combat team “in order to meet its NATO membership requirements,” the Army spokesperson said.

The foreign military sale has an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2024, according to the Pentagon listing.

Of the 18 versions of the Stryker, 10 are flat-bottom variants, including the Infantry Carrier Vehicle, Mobile Gun System, Reconnaissance Vehicle and Medical Evacuation Vehicle. Newer versions of the Styker have a double v-hull.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has renewed interest in equipping Stryker combat vehicles in Europe with active protection systems, which could defend vehicles against antitank missiles, Inside Defense previously reported.

“There is renewed interest in a hard-kill APS system for the Stryker forces in Europe,” Col. William Venable, project manager for Stryker brigades, said June 2 at a conference on APS for combat vehicles.

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