Saab touts successful test of new air-defence weapon

Saab successfully demonstrated the live-fire of its mobile short-range air defense (MSHORAD) system for the first time in late August.

The live fire demonstration took place Aug. 30 in Karlskoga, Sweden, before a delegation of officials from 15 nations, per a company press release, according to Defense News.

The company’s MSHORAD system consists of a mobile radar unit based on Saab’s Giraffe 1X radar, and a mobile firing unit focused around the RBS 70 NG missile system. The two units are connected by Saab’s ground-based air defence command-and-control (GBAD C2) system.

Five successful firings were performed using the RBS 70 NG, mounted on a Czech-built SVOS MARS S330 4x4 vehicle, against targets including an unmanned aerial system, and an elevated helicopter airframe. A night firing was also performed against a towed target, Saab said.

“These successful firings prove that we have a fully operable mobile air defence solution,” said Stefan Öberg, head of Saab’s missile systems business unit. “These firings highlight the value of a single supplier being able to deliver everything from radar to the firing unit, including a GBAD C2 solution.”

One or several mobile radar units can support one or more mobile firing units, per a presentation provided by the company. The system can be operated autonomously and is meant to be easily integrated into higher-level C2 systems. The mobile firing unit can also be seamlessly transitioned into a man-portable air defence system (MANPAD), using the same sight and missile capabilities.

The delegation included members from both NATO and non-NATO nations, Saab said in an email to Defense News. Specific countries were not named, but the company said it has seen interest from countries that would be new users of a Saab GBAD system, as well as from its existing customer base for the RBS 70 in its MANPAD configuration.