A.W.E. Striker

When the dastardly forces of COBRA is on the prowl, you need something awesome to keep up with them!
And they don't come any more awesome than the A.W.E. Striker!

Overview[]

Strike fast and strike harder than COBRA! That's the creed of the All Weather & Environment Striker Vehicle aka the A.W.E. Striker!

Created for the G.I. Joe Team, the A.W.E. is a lightweight racing vehicle optimized for speed yet rugged enough to cope with a wide variety of inhospitable terrains and most inclement weather conditions imaginable. From fierce windstorms, to sandy desert plains, to muddy swamps, monsoons, and more. Whatever the conditions, the A.W.E. Striker is up to the challenge of delivering the Joes to face off against the forces of COBRA wherever inhospitable rock that they may be lurking beneath.

Technical Specifications[]

• MODEL: All Weather and Environment Light Ground Attack Vehicle

• TYPE: Light Off-Road 4-WD Vehicle

• MASS:  2.8 tons (fully loaded)

• CREW COMPLEMENT: 1 Driver, 1 Passenger/Gunner

• MAXIMUM SPEED: 105 mph (miles per hour) fully loaded; 60 mph (miles per hour) cross-country

• PRIMARY MANUFACTURER: U.S. Army

Design Features[]

Adapted from the Chenworth Racing Products Incorporation Dune Buggy; the A.W.E. Striker has quickly become a proven mainstay of the G.I. Joe Team. It's robustness allows it to cope with a wide range of hostile terrains and environmental conditions that would break a lesser vehicle. This resilience and reliability has earned its place within the Joes' stable of trusted vehicles to use on the battlefield.

Constructed out of an extremely lightweight yet sturdy fiberglass, the A.W.E. Striker is an open tubular spaceframe. It is deliberately designed to be as low-mass as possible and lacks any extraneous or unnecessary equipment―such as a windshield, passenger doors, or even a rear window. There is a partial roof, but that is more for the support of the overhead mounted gatling gun than to actually shield the interior from the weather. Thus, the lightweight A.W.E. weighs a mere 2.8 tons when fully loaded.

It does boast an integrated roll-over cage designed to stiffen the chassis of the A.W.E. should the vehicle tip over onto its side or overturn. This roll-over cage prevents the A.W.E. from crumpling inward and protects the driver and passenger inside the vehicle itself. It's sole concession to armor plating is a high-impact composite on its "belly" which is to deflect a proximity explosion from landmines and provide increased survivability for its crew.

There are four large 175-70-VR15 oversized heavy duty off-road tires with an integrated high-performance suspension system allowing the A.W.E. to withstand jumps and abrupt drops better than any civilian model automobile. There are three such shock absorbers on each rear wheel to distribute the greater weight on the back section of the vehicle due to the rear-mounted engine while there are only two such shock absorbing dampeners mounted on the front pair of wheels.

It's air-cooled aluminum alloy transverse engine is mounted on the rear of the vehicle and provides enormous horsepower and allows the A.W.E. to achieve impressive land speeds. It has been recorded as being able to achieve up to 105 miles per hour (mph) on even roads and can attain over 60 miles per hour over rugged cross-country terrain or over varied landscapes such as sandy dunes, marshy swamps, rocky mountains, or gravel as well. The 6-cylinder fuel injector engine is highly efficient with an operating range of approximately 520 miles.

The A.W.E. is equipped with four separate forward gears and two rear gears with a pinpoint steering system that is highly responsive. All of these featured combined makes the A.W.E. an incredibly fast and highly agile combat vehicle―particularly in the hands of a qualified driver. With its adaptability and versatility, the A.W.E. Striker is one of the primary mainstays of the G.I. Joe Special Mission Force due to the fact that their field operations take them to all over the world and in a wide variety of environmental conditions, unusual terrains, and climates. The A.W.E. is easily light enough to be rapidly shipped or mobilized fairly easily anywhere in the world with a standard military transport, airdropped, or even delivered by landing craft.

Coupled with its size, versatility, speed, and maneuverability has enabled the A.W.E. to remain at the forefront of its suitability as a military vehicle and a fast scout and reconnaissance vehicle. This is despite a noticeable lack of protective armor plating that would otherwise weigh down the nimble vehicle as its small size, fast acceleration, and sheer agility make it an incredibly elusive target for gunners and most military battle tanks find it difficult to depress their guns low enough to track it.

Although the A.W.E. has sufficient seating for two; a driver and a passenger/gunner, the vehicle does mount a pair of running boards on either side on the driver and passenger sides of the vehicle. This allows for additional passengers to stand these boards while holding onto the roll bars for support. The A.W.E. can usually carry up to 2-6 additional passenger in this manner; but this usually impacts on the speed of the vehicle and can potentially destabilize the balance of the A.W.E. The riding passengers are also very much at risk should the vehicle flip over as they are not inside the roll cage assembly and even lack seat belts.

The A.W.E. is equipped with a pair of radio antennas masts that function as gigahertz range, frequency wobbler transceivers. It can receive and transmit satellite radio messages to and from G.I. Joe Headquarters in the field even behind enemy lines. There is also a high-impact bumper mounted on the forward front facing hood of the vehicle and a pair of halogen headlights designed to penetrate fog, rain, and other inhospitable weather conditions.

Armaments[]

Mounted on the roof of the A.W.E. is a modified 7.62mm 6-barrelled gatling gun with a 6,000 round ammunition magazine on a linkless feed mechanism. The gun is housed in a flash-suppressor and is direct-linked to a dash-mounted laser target designator operated by the passenger crew member. This respectable amount of firepower allows the A.W.E. to hit targets far above its weight class.

Production Notes[]

In 1982, Hasbro began the relaunch of the G.I. Joe action figures accompanied by various playsets and vehicles. The new concept sparked unprecedented levels of popularity, producing over 500 action figures with 250 vehicles and sets.

The A.W.E. Striker was released as part of the fourth wave of G.I. Joe Vehicles and was packaged with its exclusive driver, Crankcase in 1985 and would sold until 1987. It would also be re-released over the decades with minor retooling to its design, repaintings, or alterations to its name. Such as in 1992; where it was re-released as "The Eco-Striker" as part of the G.I. Joe Eco-Warriors sub-team and featured a different color scheme with a refillable water sprayer cannon in place of its original top-mounted non-firing minigun model.

It was subsequently re-released in 2001, 2003, twice in 2008, and again in 2010 and repackaged with various different G.I. Joe action figures such as Dial Tone, Leatherneck, Pathfinder, Night Fox, and Crankcase. It was also released under a new alias and modification to the top mounted gun as the "Ninja Commando 4x4" in 2012 with a Snake-Eyes action figure; as the "E.C.O. Striker" in 2014; and as the "Forward Observer Encampment Striker" or "F.O.E. Striker" in 2015 with a Chuckles action figure.

The A.W.E. Striker itself was based on the real world Chenowth Racing Products Inc M1040/41 Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV) which was first developed for use by the U.S. Army in 1982. The early prototypes of the FAV were originally intended to mount a recoiless rifle or a TOW missile battery on the roof; but ran into engineering challenges as the FAV was simply too lightweight to carry these mass-heavy weapons effectively. They would cause the lightweight vehicle to flip over if fired or when turning at high speeds would unbalance it and cause the entire vehicle to roll over.

The FAV saw limited use during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 but was quickly replaced with the Humvees for their better suitability for military ops. The FAV did inspire a new wave of light strike vehicles by Chenowth that has become part of the U.S. Army's fleet of desert attack vehicles with several models being currently fielded by the US Navy SEALS and Marine Corps.