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Welcome to the suggestion for the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger! This is an American (in case the picture above wasn’t clear) anti-aircraft vehicle based on the famous Humvee. It is armed with two FIM-92 Stinger missile pods, and sometimes a 12.7 mm M3P machine gun. In War Thunder, the Avenger Air Defense System would add to the American anti-aircraft line, providing a mobile and effective air defense system.
History
An M163 returns to the vehicle staging area after an exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, United States, March 31st, 1988.
In the 1980s, Boeing developed a surface-to-air missile system, utilizing the chassis of the HMMWV truck. Although it was created as a private venture, the U.S. Army took interest, and in 10 months, the now named Avenger Air Defense System, AN/TWQ-1 under the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, went from concept to prototype undergoing testing. The design was fairly simple, it mounted a pair of FIM-92 Stinger missile pods on the rear of the Humvee chassis, with the gunner sitting in a turret between the two pods. Messages to the firing unit, as well as external radar tracks can be communicated by linking to the Forward Area Air Defense Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence system, known as FAAD C3I. This system enables the Avenger crew to have an early warning of incoming air threats, information on the target’s IFF, and allows the Avenger to slew-to-cue.
The U.S. Army tested the vehicle at Washington state’s Yakima Training Center in May of 1984, where three Stinger missiles were fired. During the first shot, the Avenger directly hit a target while moving at 32 km/h, followed by another direct hit while stationary, and a miss while on the move in the rain, which was counted as a tactical kill since the missile passed within the kill range of its target. Following testing, the Avenger underwent evaluation in August, and three years later in 1987, the U.S. Army officially issued a production contract for 325 vehicles. On November 1st, 1988, the first unit was delivered, followed up in 1989 by Initial Operational Test and Evaluation. The first phase of this was evaluating its target acquisition and tracking at Fort Hunter Liggett in California, with the second phase being live-fire testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
An Avenger from Echo Battery, 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment conducting .50-caliber machine gun qualification on Chipori Range at Camp Casey, South Korea, August 7th, 2013.
In a Beyond Low-Rate Initial Production report to Congress, Director Operational Test and Evaluation deemed the system operationally effective, ‘with some limiting factors.’ These included back blast damage to the cab at some firing azimuths and elevations, excessive hydrogen chloride gas levels in the cab, a need for a improved voltage regulator, and the need for an environmental control unit/ primary power unit for the gunner’s cupola. A few of these would later be solved prior to larger scale fielding of the Avenger. Following the B-LRIP report to Congress, the Avenger began entering service, and was slated to replace the M163 and M167 VADS, and was present for the buildup prior to the Gulf War in 1991. Following this deployment, the U.S. Army ordered 679 more vehicles, and the Avenger was deployed to Bosnia during the Bosnian War, and famously deployed around the Pentagon following the 9/11 attacks. The Avenger proceeded to follow the U.S. Military wherever it went, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In April of 2017, the Avenger fired Stingers at a pair of UAVs at Eglin Air Force base, becoming the system’s first UAV interception, and its utilization of a proximity fused warhead as opposed to the direct impact Stingers used normally. Although the Avenger was still an effective system, it was lightly armored, and the U.S. Army desired something with a longer range and better protection. This led to the M-SHORAD, an air defense system based on the Stryker family of wheeled vehicles. The M-SHORAD, or Sgt. Stout, has since entered service and is set to replace the Avenger.
An M-SHORAD during Exercise Saber Strike 22 in Rutja, Estonia, March 10th 2022.
Specifications
Crew: 2-3
Mass: 4.3 t
Length: 4.95 m
Width: 2.18 m
Height: 2.64 m
Main armament: 4× or 8× FIM-92 Stinger missiles & 1× 12.7 mm M3P machine gun (200 rounds)
Elevation angles: 78°/-4°
Engine: 135 hp Detroit Diesel V8
Maximum speed: 89 km/h
Maximum range: 443 km
