Stinger Missiles Fired From A Javelin Launcher - Revolutionary? #javelin #stinger

The Army Is Now Firing Stinger Missiles From A Javelin Launcher. There was a demonstration of a Stinger short-range heat-seeking surface-to-air missile fired from a portable launcher originally designed for the Javelin anti-tank missile. In tests, the combination of Javelin launcher and Stinger missile has been used to destroy an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) target, although, ultimately, the system will be able to take on a range of air and ground threats, providing improved engagement capabilities for the Stinger.
While the first imagery of the Stinger being fired from a Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Unit, or LWCLU, has only recently become available and was brought to our attention by Twitter user @MIL-STD, this combination has been undergoing tests since at least September 2020. In March 2021, Raytheon Missiles & Defense first announced it had conducted a demonstration of this capability together with the UNITED STATES Army but did not release any accompanying imagery at that time. Raytheon, together with Lockheed Martin, is part of the joint venture company that produces the Javelin system and also currently holds the rights to the Stinger. The March 2021 testing milestone took place at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and involved soldiers from the Mississippi National Guard. The test also made use of a simulated Lockheed Martin AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel battlefield radar, while the UAV target was tracked using Northrop Grumman’s Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control, or FAAD C2, architecture. FAAD C2 is designed to integrate short-range air defense (SHORAD), counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM), and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) systems, from initial detection of a threat through to interception. It is not entirely clear if the newly released imagery is from this particular test, but it seems at least a possibility. The Eglin test ended with the gunner engaging multiple UAV targets using the Block I-upgraded FIM-92J Stinger PROX missile fitted with a proximity fuse, an adaptation that’s optimized for downing drones and other smaller aerial threats. Meanwhile, the latest imagery appears to be related to the wider Project Convergence 22 (PC22) initiative, run by Army Futures Command. PC22 focused on joint, multi-domain engagements and involved new and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomy. The overall aim was to improve battlefield situational awareness, connect sensors with shooters, and accelerate the decision-making timeline, the Army said. According to Raytheon, compared with the original Javelin launcher, the LWCLU can acquire targets at twice the sight range at night and three times the range during the day, regardless of weather conditions. The LWCLU is also considerably easier to move around on the battlefield, weighing 30 percent less than its predecessor. It’s also cheaper than the original Javelin launcher. Furthermore, since the launcher can be used against targets in the air and on the ground, it removes the requirement for troops to carry separate Stinger and Javelin launchers, at least in some scenarios: “Because LWCLU can defeat both land and aerial threats, it’s easier for soldiers to use in complex environments,” said Tom Laliberty, vice president of Land Warfare & Air Defense, a business area of Raytheon Missiles & Defense, in a company statement last year. “It reduces the burden of carrying additional gear.”

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