M1129 Mortar Carrier

The M1129 Mortar Carrier, is a 8×8 wheeled armored mortar carrier of the Stryker family of combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems. It is in use with the United States Army.

Description
The M1129 Mortar Carrier, also known as MCV-B (Mortar Carrier Vehicle version B), is based on the Stryker infantry carrier vehicle, which is itself a descendant of the Swiss Mowag Piranha III.

The precursor of the M1129, the MCV-A, carried a mortar that could only be used dismounted, whereas the M1129 is fully capable of firing its weapon from the mounted position within the vehicle.

The M1129 is used in the US Army Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, where it is part of each Brigade's maneuver infantry battalion's and RSTA squadron's MTOE (Modified Table of Equipment). The vehicles are either organically subordinated to battalion level or company level. The battalion level vehicles are armed with the 120 mm M121 mortar system, which is the vehicle mounted version of the M120 mortar. Additionally, they carry the 81mm M252 mortar that can only be used in a dismounted capacity. The company level vehicles also carry a vehicle-mounted 120mm mortar, which is augmented by the 60mm M224 mortar for dismounted use. Each Stryker infantry battalion thus has a total number of 10 mortar carriers, all of which are equipped with the 120mm system.

The first M1129 vehicles were put into service in Spring 2005 with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The 172nd Stryker Brigade deployed to Iraq in August 2005 being the first unit to fire the M1129/MCV-B in theatre.