US Army gets closer to fielding new air defense systems
by Army News Service
August 11, 2020
The Army is working on fielding a Directed Energy-Maneuver Short Range Air Defense capability, or DE-MSHORAD, to the platoon level by fiscal year 2022. The new capability will provide brigade combat teams with a 50-kilowatt laser aboard a Stryker combat vehicle in support of air defense artillery operations. (Redstone Arsenal)
Further evaluation of new air defense capabilities is currently underway, including the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System and directed energy weapons, as the Army aims to empower units against near-peer threats.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment and 3rd Bn., 6th Air Defense Artillery Air Missile Defense Test Detachment are involved in a limited user test for the IBCS that started in early July, said Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch Jr., head of the Program Executive Office of Missiles and Space.
The evaluation was initially scheduled for May, but was pushed back about a month due to COVID-19 safety concerns, he added. The Army will complete the current test, which is being held at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, by September.
https://www.defencetalk.com/us-army-gets-closer-to-fielding-new-air-defense-systems-76157/
