US Army names newest combat vehicle ‘Booker’
The U.S. Army named the M10 combat vehicle “Booker” during the Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army
The M10 Booker Combat Vehicle is named after two American service members: Pvt. Robert D. Booker, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions in World War II, and Staff Sgt. Stevon A. Booker, who posthumously received the Distinguished Service Cross for actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Their stories and actions articulate the Army’s need for the M10 Booker Combat Vehicle, an infantry assault vehicle that will provide protection and lethality to destroy threats like the ones that took the lives of these two Soldiers.
The M10 Booker Combat Vehicle, formerly known as Mobile Protected Firepower, represents a new, modernized capability for the Army allowing light maneuver forces to overmatch adversaries. The platform will provide greater survivability, the ability to identify threat systems earlier and at greater distances, and will not restrict movement in off-road terrain.
The M10 Booker Combat Vehicle will also allow Soldiers to move at a faster pace, protecting the assaulting force.
The M10 resembles something between a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and a small Abrams main battle tank.
The first M10 Booker vehicles are expected to arrive to the Army in November, said Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the Army’s program executive officer in charge of ground combat systems. The Army expects to stand up its first M10 battalion to conduct initial operations testing in late 2024 or early 2025, Dean said. He declined to say where the first M10 battalion would be located.
