Saab demonstrates mobile SHORAD system in live firing

Saab demonstrated its MSHORAD system in live firings in Karlskoga, Sweden, on 30 August. (Saab)

Saab demonstrated a mobile short-range air defence (MSHORAD) system in live firings in Karlskoga, Sweden, on 30 August. It was the first time the system was presented to an audience, with delegations from 15 countries attending, the company said in a press release on 5 September.

Five firings were performed with RBS 70 NG missiles – two from a mobile firing unit (MFU) on an SVOS MARS S330 vehicle and three in manportable air defence system (MANPADS) mode. Reporting that all five firings were successful, Mats-Olof Rydberg, head of marketing and sales in Saab's missile systems business unit, told an online press briefing on 2 September that the first target was a DJI Matrice 300 RTK target drone travelling at 15 m/s at a range of 2 km, followed 30 seconds later by the destruction of an elevated AS365 N3 helicopter platform simulating hovering at a range of 1,908 m. The missile launcher was then taken off the vehicle for three firings in MANPADS mode, including one at night, against a towed sleeved target moving at 90 m/s at ranges between 3,481 and 3,841 m.