US Army strengthens anti-aircraft defense in Europe

(To Tiziano Ciocchetti)
27/04/21

With the end of the Cold War, US forces in Europe gradually began to phase out surface-to-air weapons systems as the threat of massive air strikes had become highly unlikely.

However, in recent years, the situation is changing again, due to the appearance of new threats (UAVs / UCAVs) as well as the return of adversaries capable of achieving superiority, even temporary, in the third dimension.

The conflict in Donbass, where Ukrainian forces are grappling with pro-Russian separatists, has led the US military to change its point of view, and thus to re-consider the importance of having short-range anti-aircraft capabilities for protect the movements of mechanized units.

This change materialized with the revival of the FIM-92A Stinger infrared guided, a surface-to-air missile of the type MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense System), with the destocking of 72 systems Avenger, 36 of which entered service, after an upgrade phase, in the 5th Battalion of the 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, reactivated in Ansbach (Federal Republic of Germany) in 2018.

At the same time, the US Army launched the M-SHORAD (Mobile-Short Range Air Defense) program, based on the 8x8 armored vehicle Stryker A1. To this end, GDLS (General Dynamics Land Systems) has been awarded a 230 million dollar contract for the production of 28 vehicles, equipped with a mission module developed by Leonardo DRS in collaboration with L3 Harris, Moog and Northrop Grumann, which consists of a 914 mm (30x30 mm) XM170 cannon, a 240x7,62 mm M51 machine gun, 4 missiles Stinger and 2 AGM-114L Hellfire Long Bow.

On April 23, the US Army announced that the 5th Battalion of the 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is the first unit to bring the M-SHORAD system into service, recalling that the latter is designed to defend units maneuvering from drones, helicopters and other aerial threats.

The Pentagon's goal is to make 5th Battalion the first fully operational US Army M-SHORAD unit relatively quickly. Some sources speak of equipping four additional battalions, given that the program was funded last October with an amount equal to 1,2 billion dollars.

Furthermore, the M-SHORAD platform is constantly evolving, in fact the Stryker M-SHORAD will be modified with the addition of a laser weapon with a power of 50 kW, to more effectively counter the threat of drones. In this regard, a contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, with the aim that the first four units, thus equipped, will enter service in a platoon in 2022.

Photo: US DoD