GUARDIAN Directed Energy (DE) M-SHORAD
Description
The Stryker Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense, or DE M-SHORAD, the weapon system is a program launched by the U.S. Army to integrate a 50-kilowatt class high-energy laser weapon system on the Stryker A1 8x8 armored vehicle. The integration of a 50 kW-class laser on a Stryker A1 combat vehicle is part of the MMHEL (Multi-Mission High Energy Laser) program. The MMHEL is a technology integration and demonstration effort with a solid-state laser system, agile beam control system, and supporting laser subsystems, integrated into a combat platform. The Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system, or DE M-SHORAD, is a 50kW-class laser designed to protect divisions and brigade combat teams against unmanned aircraft systems, rotary and fixed-wing threats, rockets, artillery, and mortars, said Marcia Holmes, the deputy director of hypersonics, directed energy, space, and rapid acquisition. In September 2021, U.S. Army selected Redstone, Alabama-based Kord Technologies and McKinney, Texas-based Raytheon in a $123.9 million contract to supply three more 50-kilowatt high-energy laser energy weapon systems for three Stryker A1 vehicles. Kord is the prime on the contract, lead integrator and is providing the power management and cooling system. Raytheon provides the 50-kW class high-energy laser, a beam director, an electro-optical/infrared target acquisition and tracking system, and a Ku720 multi-mission radar. The addition of the Ku720 multi-mission, advanced electronically scanned array, persistent 360-degree radar—a scaled-down, highly-mobile version of Raytheon’s Ku-Band Radio Frequency System—provides sensing capabilities for the emerging threats and at a greater distance than other battlefield sensors. In August 2021, The US Army tested its first high-energy laser weapon prototype on Stryker armored fighting vehicles during a “combat shoot-off” at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. During the shoot-off, the laser-equipped Strykers faced various scenarios to test the Directed Energy-Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) system. In January 2022, the Defense News website has announced that the first set of Stryker 8x8 armored vehicles equipped with 50-kilowatt laser weapons will be delivered to a unit of U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, by the end of September 2022. The U.S. Army has dubbed its Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system “Guardian.”
Statistics
Likes
4
Downloads
10