WASHINGTON -- Some of the Army's excess flat-bottomed Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicles could go to Peru.
The State Department notified Congress last week of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Peru for 178 reconditioned Strykers estimated to cost $668 million.
As the Army converts its flat-bottomed Strykers to the double-V hull configuration for improved mine-blast resistance, some of the older versions are being offered to other countries.
The prime contractor is General Dynamics Land Systems.
Peru is the only country to receive State Department approval for its request this fiscal year, according to Army Security Assistance Command spokeswoman Adriane Elliot.
Other countries interested in purchasing Strykers have been Canada, Israel and Lithuania, but those deals have fallen through. Chile, Colombia and Iraq also have expressed interest in the rides.
Elliot could not say what Stryker variants or how many might be available for the foreign military sales program, and what countries are currently interested. "As for how they might be distributed and sold in the future is unknown," she told Defense News in a statement.
"With respect to other countries in [Pacific Command and Southern Command], there are none who are seriously considering Strykers, to our knowledge," Elliot said.
An administration official told Defense News that while DSCA has not seen a lot of formal requests for Strykers yet, given the lead time in the process, many countries are looking at the platform and have expressed potential interest.
According to the DSCA notification, Peru wants Strykers to enhance its forces and multi-role equipment for border security, disaster response and "to confront de-stabilizing internal threats, such as the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)."
Additionally, the buy would contribute to Peru’s plan of building a "multi-dimensional" brigade by 2030, the notification states.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
