Stryker APCs Return To The Polish Roads. A Ride from Germany to Orzysz

According to the press release issued by the US Army, Stryker vehicles are going to be transferred from Germany, where the 2nd Cavalry Regiment is normally stationed, to Orzysz, via public roads, in two convoys. One of the columns will be routed through the eastern part of Germany, and then enter the territory of Poland, while the other is scheduled to pass through the Czech Republic.

It is stressed that thanks to the fact that the elements of the 2nd Regiment have Stryker APCs and support/specialized Stryker vehicles (including tank-busters or self-propelled mortars) at their disposal, the said units are capable of easily moving around the European roads on their own, in an autonomous manner. Contrary to the heavy brigade combat teams, the aforesaid assets do not have to use the railways or HET vehicles in order to move around Europe.

The US forces are scheduled to leave on 25th March. The convoys, besides the Stryker vehicles, will also include Humvees or M777 towed howitzers. The Americans have been involved in a road deployment exercise twice so far, in the Central part of Europe. The exercises in question have involved the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, and they were known as Dragoon Ride I and Dragoon Ride II, with the latter operation organized in conjunction with the Anakonda exercise of the Polish Army.

The unit which is normally stationed in the German town of Vilseck is one of the most experienced Regiments of the US Army, when it comes to the operations like this in the Central-Eastern Europe. It has been arranged that next year, the said element is to receive extra armament, coming in a form of IFVs armed with 30 mm turret modules, modernized in a response to an urgent operational requirement.

The NATO battalion battle group, destined to be deployed to Orzysz, is expected to include elements of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (800-900 troops plus 67 Stryker vehicles), a reconnaissance unit hailing from the UK and a Romanian air defence unit. The group will be conducting joint operations with the Polish 15th “Giżycka” Mechanized Brigade.

Meanwhile, a company of the PT-91 Twardy main battle tanks of the Polish 9th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, being a part of a battalion group commanded by Canadians, is planned to be deployed to Latvia. The remaining units of this type, formed on the basis of the arrangements made during the NATO summit in Warsaw, are expected to be stationed in Latvia and Estonia, and they would be routed, respectively, through Germany and the UK.