Saab has announced the successful live fire demonstration of their MSHORAD system on 30 August at the Karlskoga range in Sweden. During the test, five different mock aerial targets were successfully engaged, including:
- UAVs
- helicopters Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft representative targets
- in addition to a night engagement against a towed target.
For the purposes of the demonstration, MSHORAD was shown in a two vehicle-type configuration, consisting of a Mobile Radar Unit (MRU) equipped with a GIRAFFE 1X search radar as well as Command & Control (C2) systems, and a Mobile Firing Unit (MFU) with a pedestal-mounted, remotely-operated launcher with three ready missiles, derived from the RBS 70 NG system. Saab stated that depending on user preference, MSHORAD could also be offered in a three vehicle-type configuration, with C2 functions decoupled from the radar vehicle, an arrangement which decreases the command crew’s vulnerability to anti-radiation missiles.
The GIRAFFE 1X used by the MRU is an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar operating in the X-band, which can provide coverage up to 70° in elevation and rotates to provide 360° coverage in azimuth. It capable of tracking 600 simultaneous targets, out to its instrumented detection range of 75 km, and has a refresh rate of 1 second. Notionally, a single MRU would be capable of providing simultaneous tracking for 4-12 MFUs, although a company representative stated more could be supported if required. Additionally, MRU’s networking capabilities allow combining the air picture from multiple MRUs to generate a larger common air picture.
In the two vehicle-type configuration, the MRU and MFU are each intended to operate with have a crew of three, consisting of a driver, radar operator, and battery commander, in the MFU, and driver, missile operator, and vehicle commander for the MFU. The three-vehicle configuration would presumably involve moving the battery commander from the MRU to a dedicated C2 vehicle, along with a driver. The company stated that additional sensors, such as passive sensors, could be integrated with the system depending on user requirement.
For the demonstration both vehicles were shown mounted on the MARS S-330 4×4 platform developed by Czech manufacturer SVOS. However, SAAB noted that both the MRU and MFU are platform-agnostic, and can be mounted on nearly any vehicle which can withstand the weight requirement of 500 kg for the missile launcher.
MSHORAD Details
SAAB also offer a pre-packaged version of the radar unit, referred to as the Compact Radar Unit (CRU), which they have stated can be mounted to nearly any flatbed vehicle capable of meeting the 400 kg weight requirement and 2.5 kW power requirement. The CRU comes equipped with a battery which allows up to 8 hours of silent watch capability, allowing the crew to power the radar without using the host vehicle’s engine.
The MFU can be armed with three of either the RBS 70 Mk2 or the BOLIDE laser beam-riding missile, with the latter enabling engagement of aerial or protected land vehicle targets out to 9 km, at altitudes up to 5 km. The vehicle’s unmanned weapon station is equipped with a thermal sight, allowing the vehicle to search for and conduct engagements independently of the MRU if required, such as in electromagnetically-contested environments.
According to the Saab, the sight and missiles used by the mobile variant are both the same as those used on the RBS 70 NG MANPADS. The company stated that this allows the missiles plus sight to be dismounted from the vehicle, and remounted on a tripod carried by the MFU to set up a MANPADS configuration of the system if required. This may be desirable in some tactical scenarios, such as when fighting in an urban environment. In this configuration, the MANPADS configuration could receive target cueing information from the MRU either from the vehicle’s radios, via a fibre optic datalink run between vehicle and launcher, or using a dedicated radio for the MANPADS configuration.
