Saab has received an order from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence (MoD) for deliveries of its Mobile Short-Range Air Defence (MSHORAD) solution, the company announced on 9 July 2024.
The order is worth around SEK 1.3 billion (EUR 0.11 billion), with deliveries scheduled to take place in the 2025-2027 timeframe.
Saab’s MSHORAD solution, which is vehicle mounted to provide air defence cover for moving units, consists of a mobile radar unit equipped with the Giraffe 1X radar and a mobile firing unit featuring a remote weapon station armed with RBS 70 NG surface-to-air missiles, all connected with Saab’s GBAD command-and-control (C2) system.
The contract has been placed under a framework agreement between Saab, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the Lithuanian MoD that allows Lithuania to place orders for Saab RBS 70 NG systems.
The order includes multiple mobile firing units, mobile radar units, a C2 system, a training package and an RBS 70 NG trainer. Saab will integrate the MSHORAD systems into Joint Light Tactical Vehicles manufactured by US company Oshkosh before delivery to the customer.
“We are proud to continue to support the air defence of Lithuania. MSHORAD is our response to the new threats on the battlefield,” Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s Dynamics business area, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “Saab’s wide expertise makes us able to deliver everything from radar and firing units as well as our command-and-control system. The result is the most modern and capable mobile short-range air defence solution on the market.”
“MSHORAD is designed to ensure the protection of certain facilities, areas and critical infrastructure. The advantage of this system is mobility, so it is an extremely necessary system that will significantly strengthen the capabilities of the Lithuanian armed forces,” added Laurynas Kasčiūnas, the Lithuanian defence minister. “We are currently using the older-generation RBS 70 air defence system and Bolide missiles,’’ he noted.
