U.S. Army personnel conducted their first test with a Stryker combat vehicle equipped with a 30mm cannon ahead of future planned upgrades.

The combat vehicle was tested at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Program officials say the demonstration was intended to verify its combat abilities and make future determinations on the vehicle's armament.

"We're not going to put a 30 mm cannon on every Stryker; it's a selection of them," Col. Glenn Dean said. "Part of the decision on how many for the future will depend on what 2nd Cavalry Regiment has to say on what works or what doesn't work, or if we have enough or too many."

The test comes ahead of a scheduled delivery of the Stryker to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany.

"The purpose there is to prove out our gunnery training plan that will support fielding next year," Dean explained at the International Armored Vehicles conference. "We'll have a number of crews come over, and they'll get to operate and drive the vehicle."

The Army received its first cannon-equipped Stryker prototype, nicknamed the Dragoon, in October 2016. The vehicle was developed in response to Russia's 2015 invasion of Ukraine to close a ground vehicle capability gap, according to service leaders.

The Army began the acquisition process of the vehicles in fall 2015, and plans to field the first 83 Dragoons by the end of Fiscal 2018.

Romania orders more Piranha armored vehicles
Madrid (UPI) Jan 26, 2017 - Romania has ordered additional Piranha III wheeled armored vehicles from General Dynamics European Land Systems.

The order is the fifth by Romania and is part of the Romanian army's vehicle modernization program.

The Piranha PIII is an 8x8 wheeled vehicle with a top speed of 62 miles per hour and a range of 780 miles. It carries a crew of three and five passengers.

GDELS, formerly MOWAG of Switzerland, said Piranha vehicles have been in service with the Romanian military since 2006.

"The Romanian Army is a very important Piranha user for General Dynamics European Land Systems and we are honored by this contract award as it reflects the high confidence and satisfaction of the Romanian Army in this vehicle," said Dr. Thomas Kauffmann, Vice President International Business & Services of General Dynamics European Land Systems.

The contract for additional vehicles was signed last December. GDELS on Thursday did not detail the number of vehicles ordered or other detail of the contract.