The RCCTO delivered DE M-SHORAD prototype systems to the 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on 7 September 2023. (US Army)
The US Army completed the deployment of a Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defence (DE M-SHORAD) deployment to Iraq at the end of October, Janes learnt on the first day of SAE Media Group's Future Armoured Vehicles Survivability (FAVS) 2024 conference being held in London from 11 to 13 November.
Following the delivery of a four-vehicle prototype platoon of four DE M-SHORADs in September 2023, the system was deployed outside the US to Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations in February 2024, Colonel Steven Gutierrez, project manager for DE M-SHORAD in the US Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO), told the conference.
The imagery that he used to illustrate his presentation showed DE M-SHORAD being loaded into a C-17 transport aircraft for its deployment and for which it has received transport certification. The system underwent an Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) in-theatre assessment in June, which Col Gutierrez said in response to a question from Janes included shooting down 15 out of 15 target drones; however, he declined to confirm if it saw any action against hostile unmanned aerial vehicles.
The system also underwent mobile cleaning in theatre (instead of having to be withdrawn to do so), with on-sight diagnosis and repairs in an ISO-5 cleanroom, according to Col Gutierrez. He said this established repair capabilities in an austere environment, with on-site diagnosis speeding up the delivery of spare parts.
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