Upgraded double-V hull Strykers sit at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., on Feb. 27, 2025. The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team is receiving hundreds of upgraded Strykers and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles as part of a modernization effort. (Brad Rhen/Pennsylvania National Guard)

The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Pennsylvania has started receiving more than 600 upgraded or new vehicles, of which about half are Strykers and half are Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, according to a Pennsylvania National Guard news release.

The 324 upgraded Strykers that the 56th SBCT is set to receive have a “double-V” hull, in contrast with the brigade’s legacy flat-bottom-hull versions, the release said. The JLTVs are replacing the brigade’s Humvees.

Commander the 56th SBCT Col. Christopher Costello said that the change to the Strykers reflects vulnerabilities that were shown in the legacy design in Iraq and Afghanistan, namely that the upgraded hull deflects explosive force away from soldiers inside the vehicle.

“Soldiers often walked away from IED attacks on double-V hull vehicles or returned to duty quickly, a stark improvement over flat-bottom hull performance where casualties were higher,” Costello said.

He also said that the JLTVs have several upgrades and fewer of the limitations seen in Humvees. JLTVs were developed to replace Humvees, although they have also come under criticism for reliability and maintenance issues.

Nearly a fifth of the vehicles, 90 JLTVs and 25 Strykers, had arrived by Wednesday, said Brad Rhen, deputy state public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania National Guard. The Strykers and JLTVs are likely headed to the Fort Indiantown Gap area first, Rhen said via email, and from there some will be dispersed to other units.

The vehicles are arriving as part of a plan to modernize the 56th SBCT, which is one of four brigades in the 28th Infantry Division and one of the U.S. Army’s nine Stryker brigades. It counts about 4,400 soldiers and is headquartered at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pa.

Several hundred of the brigade’s soldiers are deployed to Africa and Germany.

A High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, more commonly known as a Humvee, rests on the left next to its successor, a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., May 2, 2017. (Teresa J. Cleveland/U.S. Air Force)