Drones have become one of the axes of modern conflicts and in recent years armies have been dedicating abundant resources to their development and also to ways to counter them. But while most defense companies create alternatives with different approaches to fight enemy drones, the Italian defense conglomerate Leonard has decided to mount almost all available options on the chassis of an 8×8 Stryker armored car which the company has shown publicly for the first time at the defense fair AUSA 2024.
Named Stryker C-UAS (C-UAS Directed Energy Stryker or Stryker Directed Energy Counter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System), this vehicle is armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon, a electronic warfarea surface-to-air missile launcher and a combat laser.
Leonardo offers this mobile system, which has been nicknamed ‘Drone Harvester’to the US Armywhich has been experimenting with similar, albeit less armed, vehicles. In this case, Leonardo acts more like integrator of existing solutions than as a developer of each individual component. The Stryker platform comes from General Dynamicswhile all mounted anti-drone weapons are the result of partnerships with seven key companies. For example, the combat laser Locustwith a power of 26 kW, comes from the American company Blue Halo.
The vehicle’s weapons station, the R400 from the Australian company EOShas an automatic cannon 30mm XM914 and a secondary machine gun. Combined with the station’s advanced fire control system, it becomes a very effective tool against unmanned aerial vehicles.
For its missile-based air defense solution, Leonardo chose the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS)developed by the British company BAE Systemsa profitable option whose solvency is being demonstrated in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Army has used the APKWS together with the launch system vampire since February 2024 and is being particularly effective against kamikaze drones Shahid deployed by the Russian army.
In addition to these weapons, the Stryker C-UAS is equipped with an electronic warfare system. It has non-kinetic technologies Titan C-UAS and Titan-SV of Blue Halo that offer comprehensive 360° surveillance and threat detection and mitigation from small and medium drones.
Other companies that collaborate with different components of the Stryker C-UAS are Northrop Grumman, Digital Systems Engineering, Arnold Defense and AMPEX.
Just as important as the means of destruction is the ability to detect and track UAVs. For this, the Stryker depends on a direction finding system and a network of small nMHR radars with active electronic scanning (AESA) technologydeveloped by Leonard. These radars are already in use on other military platforms such as the IM-SHORAD.
Leonardo has also pointed out the success of the live fire demonstration of the vehicle carried out last month in New Mexico in front of US Army officers, to whom this proposal is addressed. During the demonstration, the C-UAS mobile system used the 26 kW Locust laser and other weapons to destroy multiple drones, some weighing up to 600 kilograms and capable of reaching an altitude of 5,400 meters and speeds of up to 463 kilometers per hour. Leonardo’s vehicle maintained almost simultaneous engagements with different threats, using both the laser weapon and the remote weapons station to successfully engage targets.