HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The General Dynamics Land Systems-made Stryker combat vehicle is the U.S. Army’s platform for its Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system, which was rapidly developed and deployed to Europe to fill an urgent capability gap.
The company has now put the same SHORAD capability on a 10-ton robotic ground vehicle.
GDLS displayed its Tracked Robot 10-ton, or TRX, technology demonstrator — first unveiled as a robotic combat vehicle in October 2020 — at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Global Force Symposium on March 28. This time the focus is on air defense with the operationally proven M-SHORAD turret.
The M-SHORAD is a Stryker A1 combat vehicle-based system that includes a Moog turret and a mission equipment package designed by Leonardo DRS. That package includes Raytheon Technologies’ Stinger missile launcher.
The Army has fielded M-SHORAD to four battalions, but “we’re trying to demonstrate the ability to go beyond that both in the Stryker formations and heavy brigade formations, i.e., our heavy divisions,” according to Scott Taylor, GDLS’ director of U.S. business development.
“But we may have a potentially interesting idea with a TRX with SHORAD payload for our infantry or lighter infantry divisions,” Taylor told Defense News in an interview ahead of the symposium.
The TRX SHORAD robotic vehicle is part of a family of short-range air defense vehicles that GDLS is creating to show what’s possible, according to Kendall Linson, the company’s business development manager for Stryker.
A robotic SHORAD solution can go to the tactical edge of the battlefield, providing soldiers a standoff capability from the enemy, Linson said.
GDLS is also developing a SHORAD Stryker with a laser weapon, known as the Directed Energy M-SHORAD. The first vehicles wrapped up testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, two weeks ago ahead of its first fielding to a platoon, according to the company.
Also in development is a high-power microwave solution for the Stryker using Epirus’ Leonidas high-power microwave capability designed to destroy drone swarms. GDLS is also planning to integrate the capability onto the TRX by the end of the year.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
