Everything We Know About The U.S. Army's Next Combat Vehicle: The M10 Booker

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, the United States Army fields a new piece of armor. This time, it's the M10 Booker developed by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). In June 2022, GDLS won the contract to proceed with the development of the M10. The new armored vehicle has the appearance of a light tank, but that's something of a misnomer.

According to Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, who works as the Program Executive Officer for Army Ground Combat Systems on Military.com: "The M10 Booker is an armored vehicle that is intended to support our Infantry Brigade Combat Teams by suppressing and destroying fortifications, gun systems and trench routes, and then secondarily providing protection against enemy armored vehicles." Essentially, what looks like a light tank is more of an assault gun that supports dismounted infantry operations.

Like any new piece of military hardware, the M10 Booker is being put through a great deal of trials and changes. The Army received several production M10 Bookers in February 2024 and quickly began field testing them for operational effectiveness. Not long after, the Army placed an order for full-rate production for 266 M10 Bookers, so if all goes according to plan, the Army could start seeing the fielding of the M10 Booker as early as 2024 with plans to acquire 32-34 each fiscal year until FY-29.

[Featured image by Bernardo Fuller via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public Domain]

The M10 Booker is named to honor Private Robert D. Booker and Staff Sergeant Stevon A. Booker, two enlisted personnel who died in combat but who could have survived if heavier support on the battlefield had been present. The M10 is a relatively heavy combat vehicle weighing between 38 and 42 tons. Its armor should protect the vehicle and its occupants from kinetic energy with protection overhead, underbody, and on all of its sides. In terms of armament, the M10 packs a punch via a 105mm M35-inspired main gun, capable of firing a variety of munitions.

M10s will be able to fire Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) and High Explosive (HE) rounds loaded manually. This gives the M10 a firing range of 1.12 miles for APDS and 2.5 miles for HE rounds. In addition to the vehicle's main gun, the M10 also features a coaxial 12.7mm heavy machine gun mounted on the commander's hatch. Additionally, the M10 is outfitted with four smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret, providing additional protection for itself and dismounted personnel.

The M10 Booker's mobility is one aspect of its design that makes it highly maneuverable and capable of keeping up with lighter vehicles. The M10 Booker features a diesel engine capable of delivering 800hp of energy. Its maximum speed on paved roads is 40 mph, and it has a maximum combat range of 190 miles. The M10 can run for 24 hours, and two can be packed onto a standard C-17 for air transport to anywhere in the world.

[Featured image by U.S. Army via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public Domain]

As of July 2024, plans for the procurement and deployment of the M10 Booker are underway. The Army is not only receiving the new armored combat vehicle, but it's also integrating them into a newly established Infantry battalion that's being stood up. GDLS received a contract to produce M10 Bookers totaling $1.39 billion. On July 9, 2024, the 82nd Airborne Division began field testing the M10 Booker, putting it through various trials to prove its efficacy and identify any shortcomings.

Maj. Gen. Dean explained the testing plan, "We will also put the vehicle through production qualification and testing in desert, arctic, temperate and tropical conditions, challenging it with obstacles like gaps and walls to scale, and engaging it with real-world threats to ensure its survivability." Testing will take approximately two years from start to finish, so by 2026; the 82nd Airborne Division should have a fully operational unit of M10 Bookers in the newly established 3-73 Armor, which will have 42 operational vehicles.

Once full production is finished, the Army will have acquired 504 M10 Bookers, which is significant, as the M10 is the first major combat vehicle developed since the '80s. The M10 offers capabilities that make it somewhat comparable to the M1128 Mobile Gun System, which is a version of the Stryker featuring the same size main gun. The M10 is a more modern vehicle with capabilities that place it above similarly classed armored combat vehicles, and it may become an important asset in the U.S.' next conflict.