May 10, 2023: China recently put into service its Type 625E SHORAD (Short Range Air Defense) vehicle armed with a six-barrel 30mm autocannon and eight FB-10 infrared (heat) homing anti-aircraft missiles. These are heavier than MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems), weighing 21 kg (46 pounds) each with a max range of 10 kilometers and max altitude of six kilometers. The 30mm autocannon fires between 33 and 100 rounds a second in one of two second bursts that are accurate and effective out to four kilometers. The system is mounted on a Type 08 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle similar to the American Stryker. The fire control system uses a small radar to detect and track targets. The fire control system is computerized and assists in selecting the right weapon (autocannon or missiles) for new targets. Since the 1990s China has introduced increasingly complex and effective SHORAD systems. These are used by the Chinese military as well as being offered for export. In doing that China has become the major source of SHORAD systems worldwide.

The American military has been playing catch up. The latest U.S. SHORAD system is a Stryker-based M SHORAD vehicle armed with a 30mm autocannon and six anti-aircraft missiles; four Stinger MANPADS and two heavier Hellfire surface-to-surface missiles. The detection and tracking radar is effective out to nine kilometers and the 30mm autocannon is effective out to four kilometers. The U.S. Army has purchased 144 M-SHORAD systems and deliveries begin in 2023.

Development of M-SHORAD began about a decade ago. The army had been looking for affordable ways to deal with the growing presence of enemy UAVs and armed helicopters on the battlefield. The solution was better and more abundant SHORAD vehicles. By 2018 the army developed a Stryker (8x8 wheeled IFV) variant called MSL (Maneuver SHORAD Launcher) that uses a proven (Avenger) sensor and missile launch system (plus a 30mm air defense autocannon) but was never produced and instead evolved into M-SHORAD. It is similar to, but not as capable as, the new Chinese Type 625E, but is a major improvement in SHORAD equipment for American forces.

There were alternative solutions. One was to equip 24 (out of 90 in a brigade) M2 Bradley tracked IFVs (infantry fighting vehicles) with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that would replace the TOW missiles used by most M2s. The 90 M2s in a mechanized brigade are relatively easy to convert because most M2s come with a TOW capability (including a new fire control system that can more quickly and accurately spot distant targets). The M2 Stinger approach was quickly implemented, relatively less expensive and more effective than ManPad Stingers fired (from the shoulder) by individual soldiers because the M2 has better sensors. These are ITAS-FTL (Target Acquisition Systems and Far Target Location) which include GPS, an optical sight with FLIR (forward-looking infrared) and a laser range finder. Thus the TOW or Stinger M-2 gunner always knows where he is and can use that information if he receives warning of hostile UAVs or helicopters in the area.

This interest in SHORAD developed after 2008 when the U.S. military had to adapt to dealing with better equipped foes (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea), all of whom had UAVs while Russia and China had lots of armed helicopters. One of the more obvious changes was improving and using more SHORAD vehicles. SHORAD was a big deal during the Cold War but when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 SHORAD was no longer as essential and for over a decade not much SHORAD development took place and a lot of existing SHORAD systems were retired.

The fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq involved fighting irregulars and the American military adapted. Yet even then the United States kept some SHORAD development going, mainly on the post-Cold War Avenger system. Avenger was basically a turret armed with 8 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and an optical tracker together with an infra-red system. This turret was mounted on a Humvee but could just as easily be mounted on any light armored vehicle, or even the back of a truck. Avenger was later provided with the capability to get targeting data from nearby air defense radar systems. As a result of this effort, the American armed forces ended up with 700 M1097 Avenger vehicles. The U.S. Army had actually developed an M2 equipped with Avenger in the 1990s but never put it into service because, well, it would have nothing to do.

Because of Avenger and variants like MSL and the Stingers replacing TOW missiles on armored vehicles, the American military will have more SHORAD capability than anyone expected, especially the Russians. That was the case when some Avenger SHORAD systems began showing up in East Europe as American troops went there to train with new NATO members, some who share a border with Russia. During NATO exercises in Poland, American Avenger vehicles carried out live fire training. Avenger units were added to the American armored brigade sent to Poland for that purpose.

There was a lot of enthusiasm for Avenger among NATO allies and that meant the U.S. Department of Defense could justify reviving work on the “enhanced Avenger.” This was based on the larger (three times heavier) and better protected Stryker 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle. This Avenger variant quickly evolved into MSL which was basically an upgraded Avenger air defense system put on the back of a Stryker. Compared to the old Avenger system mounted on a Humvee, the new one can use a multitude of different missiles like AIM 9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles adapted for use by ground vehicles. The Stinger has a max range of 8,000 meters while the AIM 9X can do nearly twice that. Hellfire would be used against ground targets. Furthermore, it was now possible to mount a 30mm autocannon or even a laser to counter drones. Thanks to the Stryker 8x8 chassis, the MSL systems had better off-road capability and protection than the smaller and older Humvee design.

The Stinger armed M2s and Stryker MSL will serve not only as self-propelled air defense for moving army formations from enemy close air support aircraft or attack helicopters, but also as anti-tank systems when using Hellfire missiles.

Much earlier, in the late 1960s the U.S. Army developed the Chaparral System, using an earlier model of the Sidewinder heat seeking air-to-air missile. Four ready to fire Sidewinder missiles were mounted on a tracked vehicle along with eight missile reloads. Each had a range of six, later nine kilometers and could hit targets as high as 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). There was no radar, just an optical sight modeled on what a fighter pilot would use for this short- range missile. In the 1980s a FLIR (heat sensing) sighting unit was added. Chaparral remained in U.S. service into the 1990s and was exported as well.

Since the end of World War II in 1945, American ground forces have not endured much exposure to hostile air-power. Since the 1990s the proliferation of armed UAVs and sometimes hostile helicopter gunships or cruise missiles, has made SHORAD more of a priority. Air force and naval aviation have provided air superiority or air dominance since World War II, but the proliferation of armed UAVs and cruise missiles evaded traditional air superiority/dominance by aircraft.