SNC Pitches Adaptable Air Defense System To Counter UAS

TAMPA, Florida—Sierra Nevada Co. has mounted its quickly developed air base defense system on uncrewed surface vessels with an eye on countering one-way attack drones that have recently become a major threat to international shipping.

SNC last year publicly unveiled the Battery Revolving Adaptive Weapons Launcher-Reconfigurable (BRAWLR), which it began developing two years earlier to deploy to an undisclosed nation where it has since been proven adept at downing attack drones. 

The company is now offering the pallet-based system on vehicles and USVs, dubbed the Mobile Anti-Air Weapons Launcher-Reconfigurable (MAWLR). At the SOF Week event here, SNC and BlackSea showcased the system on a USV with a mock-up of AIM-9 missiles and Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System laser-guided rockets.

MAWLR includes an X-Band radar, an MX-15 electro-optical sensor and a mesh network data connection. According to an SNC brochure, 20 of the systems have been fielded with another 10 in progress.

Jon Piatt, SNC’s vice president for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, aviation and security, tells Aviation Week that production versions have moved to the Middle East for an urgent air defense need.

In that region, SNC sees a need for the system to either be mounted on ships and operated by the military or to deploy USV systems to escort ships that are under threat from one-way attack drones in the Strait of Hormuz. BRAWLR has already proven highly effective against Iranian Shahed-type drones in real-world use.

“The biggest threat right now is generally going to be the Shahed, and we certainly have a great track record against Shaheds,” Piatt says.

BRAWLR was demonstrated during the Northern Edge military exercise last year, and MAWLR on a USV is set to be demonstrated at events next month, he says.