Alliant Techsystems Operations to supply XM813 cannons for U.S. Army Strykers.

Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, Plymouth, Minnesota, was awarded a $37,669,772 firm-fixed-price contract to buy long lead items for the production of XM813 Cannons for the Stryker Medium Caliber Weapon System 30mm Lethality Upgrade program. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 24, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity.
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The XM813 Bushmaster automatic cannon is based on the Mk.44 and was offered as an upgrade for the M1126 Stryker (Picture source: Tad Browning, Lead Audiovisual Production Specialist, Test Documentation Team, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)

The XM813 Bushmasterautomatic cannon is based on the Mk.44 and was offered as an upgrade for M1126 Stryker and M2 Bradley infantey fighting vehicles. Improvements include a 2.54 cm (1 inch) longer barrel, integral mount to increase first round hit probability by up to 10%, a dual recoil system to enhance accuracy and cope with future hotter propellants, and a Meggitt linkless dual feed ammunition system.

The 30 mm chain gun can fire Mk310 Programmable Air Burst Munition rounds to attack targets in defilade. The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command helped enhance the XM813 mainly for safety and turret integration. By changing five parts, the gun caliber can be increased to 40 mm.

The XM813 was demonstrated on 10 September 2014 at the ARDEC Digital Multi-Purpose Range Complex. The gun was mounted on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and fired at targets up to 1,500 meters (0.93 mile) away. An enhanced fire control system improves long-range accuracy to kill targets with fewer bursts, sometimes as few as two or three rounds instead of 10. The XM813 30 mm cannon was intended to replace the M242 Bushmaster 25 mm chain gun. It can be mounted on vehicles other than the Bradley, as it is the case with the Stryker.

In early 2015, the U.S. Army approved an upgrade for 81 Stryker vehicles of a Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed in Europe to be upgunned with the XM813 30 mm cannon to increase their lethality against other light armored vehicles used by Russia. The cannons were installed in 2018 in a progam aiming at arming the entire active fleet of about 1,000 Strykers.

The XM813 has a demonstrated firing ability out to 3,000 metres (1.9 miles) for precision firing, nearly twice as far as the M2 .50 caliber machine gun that has a maximum effective range of 1,830 meters (1.14 miles) as an area suppression weapon. The first upgunned Stryker, known as the "Dragoon" for the 2nd Cavalry Regiment the vehicles was delivered in October 2016 and the first Infantry Carrier Vehicle - Dragoon (ICVD) was delivered to the 2CR in Germany in December 2017.