M-SHORAD Sergeant Stout

Would you like to see the M-SHORAD in-game?
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0 voters

Welcome to the suggestion for the M-SHORAD, also known by the name Sgt. Stout! As the name suggests, this is a Short Range Air Defense system, intended to face against low flying aircraft like helicopters, but can also defeat ground targets if necessary. It is armed with a 30 mm XM914 cannon, a pod of FIM-92 Stinger missiles, and AGM-114L Hellfires, although the latter is unlikely to be used in the future due to safety concerns. In War Thunder, the M-SHORAD would be a higher tier American anti-aircraft vehicle, which could function as an anti-ground vehicle too if given Hellfires.

Overview


An M-SHORAD from 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment during an award ceremony at White Sands Missile Range, December 3rd, 2020

Through the 2000s, the U.S. Army divested from Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) units to create space for units it believed more critical. The primary mobile anti-aircraft system was the Avenger Air Defense System, used by seven National Guard battalions. However, since this period, there have been an increasing number of aerial threats, notably missiles and UAVs that could pose a threat to American ground units. While the Avenger can still deal with most threats, it does not have the survivability or range to keep it up to par with vehicles like the Stryker.

In order to come up with a solution for this issue and integrate it with its Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), the U.S. Army chose Moog Incorporated’s Reconfigurable Integrated-Weapons Platform (RIwP) to mount on the Stryker APC chassis. The RIwP turret is a remote turret capable of mounting a variety of armaments for various mission roles, including anti-armor, anti-air, and multi-mission. This turret can be upgraded with better armaments, and is overall a flexible design, which is the primary reason for its choice by the U.S. Army. The announcement of mounting the RIwP to the Stryker for assessment was announced officially in early 2018, and the U.S. Army planned on selecting specific armament later in the year.

Ultimately, the new Maneuver Short Range Air Defense, M-SHORAD for short was to use the 30 mm XM914 cannon, a derivative of the 30 mm M230, a pod of 4× FIM-92 Stingers, 2× AGM-114L Hellfire missiles, and a 7.62 mm M240 machine gun. Leonardo DRS was down-selected to provide the U.S. Army with the mission equipment package consisting of the RADA Electronic Industries RPS-42 Multi-Mission Hemispherical Radar, Moog’s RIwP, and Raytheon’s Stinger missiles. The RPS-42 can track targets out to 30 km, and able to detect even the smallest drones out to 3.5 km.


An M-SHORAD from 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment during a training exercise in Bemowo Piskie, Poland, February 24th, 2022.

As part of the M-SHORAD requirement, the U.S. Army planned for three ‘Increments’, or variants, of the M-SHORAD. Increment 1 was the variant with the 30 mm cannon, Stingers, and Hellfires, and Increment 2 is a Direct Energy variant utilizing a 50 kW laser. Increment 3 calls to replace the Stinger missiles with the Next Generation-Short Range Interceptor, the replacement for the Stinger, and aims to provide the 30 mm XM914 with Multi-Mode Proximity Airburst munitions. As of May 2024, there has been a call for an Increment 4, which aims to deliver “air defense capability to support dismounted maneuver”, however these programs are still in development.

In April of 2021, the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment became the first unit to receive the M-SHORAD, receiving four, with the unit being fully equipped at the end of 2022. In addition to 144 M-SHORADs for operational use, the U.S. Army adopted a further 18 for training, testing, and operational spares. In the future, the U.S. Army envisions having around 312 in operational use, with the number going up to 361 based on future decisions. However, for now, there is only approval for 162 units. At the moment, there is a prohibition on the use of the AGM-114L Hellfire missiles on the M-SHORAD, due to the Hellfires mounted on the side of the vehicle creating wear and tear on the missile, leading to potential safety issues. In the future, the Army is reportedly intending to retrofit M-SHORADs with a second Stinger pod in place of the Hellfires, giving the vehicle eight total Stingers.

During the 249th Army Birthday Festival at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army Michael R. Weimer revealed the name for the M-SHORAD, the Sgt Stout. This name comes from the only air defense artillery soldier to receive the Medal of Honor, Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, who shielded fellow soldiers from a hand grenade while in a bunker on March 12th, 1970. Much like its namesake, the U.S. Army intends for the Sgt Stout to “protect soldiers well into the future”.


The Sgt. Stout at the 249th Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, June 15th, 2024.

Specifications
  • Crew: 3
  • Mass: ~19 t
  • Main armament: 1× 30 mm XM914, 4× FIM-92 Stinger & 2× AGM-114L Hellfire or 8× FIM-92 Stinger
  • Secondary armament: 7.62 mm M240
  • Radar: RPS-42 Multi-Mission Hemispherical Radar
  • Radar range: 100 m - 30 km
  • Engine: 450 hp Caterpillar C9
  • Elevation: -20°/60°
Sources
Gallery

8 Likes

I’d love to have it! The Hellfire missiles could be swapped for another Stinger pod, similar to the LAV-AD. +1

4 Likes

Definitely a +1 imagine using its FnF AGM-114L “Longbows” AND with a launcher that moves with the turret for closer engagements. That would be nasty.

2 Likes

This would be a first for a vehicle in War Thunder, right?

1 Like

I believe so, I know some aircraft have hemispherical MAW / detection like the F-111, but I don’t think there are any ground vehicles with it. I’m not too well versed in radar systems, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Also, my apologies if anyone’s votes have been removed, I had to remove and readd the poll to include the vehicle’s name instead of the default poll text.

I posted this on the wishlist forum but I’ll post it here too. Such a cool vehicle, feel free to use anything on here for your post @OddPhenomena, it has some stuff if you want to use it.

Sgt Stout

I think one of the vehicles I want to see the most (excluding trees) is the M-SHORAD/Sgt. Stout. This thing is an absolute menace with its wide-assortment of weapons and electronics.

Sgt. Stout SHORAD (M-SHORAD Increment 1)

  • Vehicle specifications:
    • 30mm XM914E1 Chain Gun.
      • Capable of firing the same 30x113mmB ammunition as the Apache but uses the XM949 High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) and XM1198 High Explosive Dual Purpose Self Destruct (HEDP-SD).
      • Has a rate of fire (RoF) of 200rds/min and a capacity of 400 rounds total.
      • Chain gun had an engineering change due to the magnetic interference of firing certain munitions.
    • 2x AGM-114L ‘Longbow’ Hellfire missiles.
      • Fire and Forget missiles that uses a millimeter-wave (MMW) radar seeker coupled with inertial guidance that can destroy targets through smoke countermeasures. Likely has 1,000mm+ of penetration behind ERA due to its Tandem-HEAT warhead. Has a range of 8km and can be used against both land and air targets.
    • 4x FIM-92K Stinger Missiles.
      • The most advanced variant of the Stinger missile, the FIM-92K. The missile still retains the hit-to-kill capability but has a proximity fuse for engaging targets that the seeker deems it cannot directly hit. The seeker also excels at targeting smaller targets like Category 1 UAS/UAV’s on top of regular air targets such as helicopters or jets. The FIM-92K utilizes the vehicle’s datalink, or the target information fed from the launching vehicles tracking sensors, for targeting but still has an advanced, all-aspect, IRCCM-capable seeker.
      • The FIM-92K, while in-game already, has its effectiveness based on the datalink and capability of the launching platform. Due to the Sgt. Stout’s highly advanced onboard sensors/AESA RADAR’s, the vehicle can fully maximize the FIM-92K’s range against helicopters, jets, missiles, and drones due to the datalink where other vehicles with the same missile may struggle.
      • The U.S. Army does plan on removing the Hellfire Launcher on M-SHORAD Increment 1’s due to wear and tear on the missiles, with the launcher being replaced by another quad-Stinger pack, providing a total of 8x FIM-92K missiles. This can be a modification for players similarly to the LAV-AD’s ability to swap armaments.
        • Editor’s Note: I don’t understand why the U.S. Army, in coordination with the defense industry, couldn’t just make an enclosed launcher or modify the existing one for the Hellfire’s instead of outright getting rid of them. Either way it will be costly to swap them around to the quad-Stinger pack rather than conducting an engineering change of the Hellfire Launcher. Not to mention it removes a significant portion of the vehicle’s firepower.
    • 7.62mm M240C coaxial machine gun.
      • Machine gun capable of killing exposed enemy crew, marking targets, and damaging soft-modules.
    • 4x Multi-Mission Hemispheric RADAR’s (MHR)
      • RPS-42 AESA Pulse-Doppler RADAR’s mounted around the vehicle to provide 360-degree coverage, -10 to 70-degree elevation, and ECCM capable. RADAR ranges per manufacturer:
        • 30km
Unknown if these apply to the RADAR is well, minus ranges beyond 30km.
  • Nano UAV - 5km
  • Medium-sized UAV - 25km
  • Heavy Transport Aircraft - 50km
  • Fighter Aircraft - 35km
  • Fighter Aircraft (Low RCS) - 20km
  • Utility Helicopter - 23km
  • Light/Medium Mortars/Short Range Rockets - 5km
  • Heavy Mortars - 6km
  • Pedestrians - 10km
  • Vehicles/Medium-sized Vessels - 25km
  • Large Vessels - 40km
  • It is worth noting that due to the large quantity of targets the advanced RADAR’s can track, the Fire Control System can differentiate between the different types of targets to not “bog” down the system and focus on specific types of targets depending on the mission, whether it’s versus Air or Ground threats.
  • IFF Receiver.
    • Friendly Aircraft Identification, prevention of friendly targeting.
  • Remote Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP) Combat Module.
    • A multi-mission unmanned combat module that can adjust its armaments based on mission requirements or customer needs.
      IMG_0884
  • MX-GCS EO/IR Sighting System.
    • Advanced, fully-stabilized sighting system with integrated laser rangefinder, 3rd-generation thermal camera, IRST-capable/optical tracking, HD day sensor.
    • Target tracking includes both ground and air targets, and offers a lead-indicator.
  • Stryker-A1 V-shaped hull with high HE resistance, spall liners, and solid ballistic protection.
  • Sources:
  • In-game:
    • A multi-mission platform that has a remote RIwP integrated combat module with all the listed technologies above, with high-survival. The 30mm doesn’t have APFSDS-T but can definitely pepper vehicles of all types with its unique ammunition that can even ‘blind’ enemy sights from the HE-effect, damage modules, and completely devastate aircraft. Players will recognize the ammo from the legendary Apache which uses the 30mm M230 chain gun of which the XM914E1 chain gun is derived. It has missiles (Longbow Hellfires) that can destroy every available land target, regardless if they use smoke countermeasures, and Stinger’s with an added proximity-fuse effect and enhanced IRCCM, and solid thermals. This thing is a monster on wheels. However, that doesn’t mean charge into combat. Play on the vehicles strengths and take advantage of open terrain to really maximize the vehicles weapons like the Longbow’s which will suffer somewhat due to how FaF missiles are implemented as a whole. A positive to note is the Hellfire Launchers are positioned horizontally rather than arched, allowing for better close-range engagements. One major bonus this vehicle has though is its continuously-emitting AESA pulse-Doppler RADAR’s which are highly capable, long-range, can detect ground vehicles, aircraft, drones, and even pedestrians, and can be used a lot more effectively of destroying incoming missiles due to the sensitivity of the RADAR’s themselves, that and paired with the FIM-92K’s datalink capability, it allows the vehicle to maximize the Stinger’s effectiveness. The RADAR’s are also resistant against Electronic Warfare interference. As noted before, the Army does plan on removing the Hellfire Launchers in exchange for another quad-Stinger pack, this could be a modification in-game similarly to how the LAV-AD can swap armaments between a Hydra-rocket pod or a quad-Stinger pack.
    • Estimated BR: 10.7-11.3
      • While this vehicle has a large assortment of weapons with fantastic thermals, RADAR, and tracking, it is still a dedicated SPAA that lacks long-range missile capabilities for high-speed, maneuverable air contacts. While it can definitely engage helicopters/aircraft/UAV’s farther out due to its FIM-92K Stinger datalink missiles, they’re still MANPAD missiles with a range of 5km that can lock from 6-11km depending on aspect, but lack the capabilities of dedicated-long range SAM’s. They are fast though, with a speed of ~670m/s (though some sources have it at a higher speed). For AGM-114L Longbow’s, they can destroy both land targets and helicopters/UAV’s easily at ranges out to 8km but they’re not maneuverable, they’re slower at ~450m/s, and cannot target fast moving aircraft. Lastly, the 30mm is only good for closer-ranged targets. The vehicle’s overall maximum effective range is 8km. That’s why the BR for this vehicle isn’t max, not to mention, it’s hard to gauge a vehicle like this since there’s nothing comparable in-game.
  • Media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpPgYIciilw

2 Likes

Very nice, better than I could put it! I appreciate your addition.

1 Like

+1 but I think 10.7 is too high, it’s basically a sidegrade to the LAV-AD, having a slower firing gun with but with proximity ammunition, much less Stingers regardless of the loadouts of both this and LAV-AD, better mobility but larger with the only significant advantage being the radar and Hellfires being anti-armor as well

Definitely yes. Have the option to equip the Hellfires or switch them out with Stingers

+1 By far one of my favorite ground vehicles, I love multi-use vehicles.