Special Report: US Army on schedule for 25 MBCTs

An Infantry Squad Vehicle carries a Tactical Electronic Warfare System - Infantry during the 101st Airborne training rotation at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

As the US Army begins the process of transforming its Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) to Mobile Brigade Combat Teams (MBCTs), units are experimenting with new equipment and formations, officials said recently.

The service in May announced a goal of reaching 25 MBCTs over the next two years and is on track to achieve that, said Army Chief of Staff General Randy George during the Maneuver Warfighter Conference on 9 September. The transition to MBCTs is part of the army's larger effort, called the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), to shrink its headquarters and divest from legacy systems.

Ground vehicles

There will potentially be 108 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISVs) and 165 Infantry Utility Vehicles (IUVs) in each MBCT, according to a table of “key resourcing” shown during Gen George's presentation.

“This was bottom-up feedback from our leaders inside of our formation on how this formation needed to look, how it was going to fight, and what kind of equipment it would need to have in there,” he said. Because the table is from the first IBCTs to make the switch, the army will be flexible as the rest of the teams transition. “We need to be flexible and willing to adjust those,” he said.