Army asks Kord Technologies to build laser weapons for air defense aboard Stryker armored combat vehicles
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – U.S. Army laser weapons experts needed a company to build and sustain an air-defense laser for the Stryker armored combat vehicle. They found their solution from Kord Technologies Inc. in Huntsville, Ala.
Officials of the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., announced a potential $158.1 million contract to Kord Technologies on 31 May for the Directed Energy Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD).
The DE M-SHORAD is a 50-kilowatt mobile air defense laser weapon able to shoot down manned and unmanned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and missiles from the Stryker vehicle.
It consists of an onboard thermal and power system that dissipates heat, recharges the system’s batteries, and fires its laser off the batteries. The beam emits from a roof-mounted beam director on the Stryker vehicle.
Kord will build as many as four DE M-SHORAD prototypes for delivery in 2023, and as many as four more system prototypes in 2024. Company engineers will make design changes to DE M-SHORAD prototypes to reduce overall weight and increase maintainability.
The Army chose Kord Technologies in November 2021 to build as many as eight DE M-SHORAD prototypes for delivery this year and in 2024. In September 2021 the Army chose Kord Technologies and the Raytheon Technologies Corp. Missiles & Defense segment in McKinney, Texas, to supply three 50-kilowatt high-energy laser weapons for three Stryker A1 armored combat vehicles as part of the DE M-SHORAD project.
Kord and Raytheon participated in a laser weapons combat shootoff in July 2021 to demonstrate the capabilities of their systems at Fort Sill, Okla. Kord engineers are designing DE M-SHORAD to reduce overall weight and enhance maintainability.
On this contract Kord Technologies will do the work in Huntsville, Ala., and should be finished by January 2026. For more information contact Kord Technologies online at https://kordtechnologies.com, or the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) at https://rapidcapabilitiesoffice.army.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
