The first of the new US M-SHORAD Stryker variants has arrived in Germany and will be operated by 5-4 Air Defense Artillery Regiment.
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The 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (5-4 ADA), 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, is the first unit in the US Army to receive the Mobile Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) system.
The M-SHORAD integrates existing guns, missiles, rockets and sensors onto a Stryker A1 vehicle. The system is designed to defend manoeuvring forces against unmanned aircraft systems, rotary-wing and residual fixed-wing threats.
5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (5-4 ADAR) comprises five battery-level units. Constituted on October 16, 2018 in the Regular Army its headquarters is located on Shipton Kaserne near Ansbach, Germany. Prior to issue of the new M-SHORAD Stryker, the regiment used the shoulder-launched FIM92 Stinger and the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger mobile LLAD system for short range air defence. For more see:-
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Editor’s Musings: It would be a logical step for the UK’s newly announced Light Brigade Combat Teams to be equipped with an M-SHORAD variant of Boxer; based on current MoD procurement track record, however, a cynic might hypothesise that DE&S could commence a feasibility study around 2025 only for the project to subsequently be cancelled around 2035 – by when there would be insufficient troop numbers to operate the systems anyway.
