(Washington, D.C.)The Army has received its first Hellfire and Stinger Missile-armed Stryker vehicle to bring a new era of air and missile defense to fast-moving attack units by killing enemy drones, helicopters and incoming missiles.
The vehicles, in development for quite some time through an Army deal with General Dynamics Land Systems, are intended to bring back a Cold-War era emphasis upon air and missile defenses – with a uniquely modern and high-tech attack possibility. GDLS is now delivering the first handful of nine prototype vehicles it is on contract to provide the Army.
The new IM SHORAD or Short Range Air Defense Strykers are armed with vertically launched Longbow Hellfire missiles and Stinger missiles, along with a new 30mm cannon intended to bring a new level of lethality to Stryker units supporting attacking infantry units.
“Working with the Army, we selected the armaments due to the lack of an ability to defeat rotary wing and UAVs. The interceptors were selected upon the threat we anticipate,” Kendall Linson, Manager of Business Development, General Dynamics Land Systems.
The first GDLS IM SHORAD Stryker is being unveiled at the 2019 Association of the United States Army Annual Symposium. The newly armed Stryker, Linson explained, introduces new dimensions to armored vehicle gun attack.
“It is not a traditional turret. It is a rotating weapons station that is remotely operated inside the vehicle,” Linson said.