Army asks General Dynamics for air-defense armored combat vehicles with sensor fusion, cameras, and radar

Summary points:

• Based on the Stryker A1 chassis, the Sgt Stout vehicle integrates Hellfire and Stinger missiles, a 30-millimeter cannon, and future laser weapons.
• Vehicle has 360-degree hemispheric radar; reconfigurable weapons turret; sensor fusion; electronic warfare (EW) equipment; high-definition cameras; and can operate independently or on a network.
• The vehicle honors Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, the only air defense artillery soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for heroic actions during the Vietnam War.

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army air-defense experts are asking General Dynamics Corp. to provide Sgt Stout counter-aircraft armored combat vehicles under terms of a $621.1 million order announced in June.

Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are asking General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich., for Sgt Stout systems, parts, services, and support.

The Sgt Stout armored combat vehicle formerly was the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) vehicle. It helps defend Army soldiers and equipment from crewed and uncrewed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, rockets, artillery, and mortars.

The armored combat vehicles are based on the Stryker A1 chassis. Their on-board target-acquisition systems integrate with the Army’s integrated air and missile defense battle command systems to defend against aerial threats.

Missiles, cannon, and laser weapons

The Sgt Stout armored vehicle can fire Hellfire and Stinger missiles, as well as a 30-millimeter cannon. A variant is being developed with on-board laser weapons to bring down enemy aircraft, rockets, missiles, and other airborne threats.

Last year the Army renamed the M-SHORAD combat vehicle the Sgt. Stout after Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, who served in the 44th Air Defense Artillery, in Vietnam. Stout save fellow soldiers when he grabbed an enemy grenade to shield comrades with his body. He was the only air defense artillery soldier to receive the Medal of Honor.

The Sgt Stout combat vehicle has a 360-degree multi-mission hemispheric radar; reconfigurable integrated weapons turret, weapons, and sensors; advanced sensor fusion to detect, classify, and engage aerial threats or operate on a network; integrated air and missile defense battle command systems; built-in command and control systems; electronic warfare (EW) suite; high-definition cameras and radar; and electrical power generation and distribution.

On this order, General Dynamics will do the work at locations to be determined with each order, and should be finished by September 2028. For more information contact General Dynamics Land Systems online at www.gdls.com/sgt-stout, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa/.