General Dynamics puts U.S. Army drone defense on a pickup

General Dynamics Land Systems will show a version of its M-SHORAD Increment 4 air defense system mounted on a Ford Ranger pickup truck at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C., which runs October 12 to 14.

The display puts a short-range air defense and counter-drone package on a commercial pickup, a far lighter carrier than the Stryker armored vehicle used for the U.S. Army’s current M-SHORAD system. General Dynamics did not say which weapons or sensors will be fitted to the Ranger, or whether the company has submitted the design to the U.S. Army’s Increment 4 effort.

The company describes the system as built around a Self-Loading Equipment Dock, or SLED, a self-contained pallet that can be loaded onto different vehicles. It comes in light, medium and heavy variants that carry weapons and sensors on several types of remote weapon stations, which let crews aim and fire from inside or away from the vehicle.

General Dynamics said the system is meant to provide air defense for the U.S. Army’s Mobile Brigade Combat Team, works with the service’s command-and-control systems and can fight drones either on its own or as part of a wider network.

The design follows the path the U.S. Army set for Increment 4. The service first asked industry for ideas in May 2024, seeking air defense for dismounted troops that could fly on a C-130 transport, be dropped by parachute and be carried under a helicopter. In 2025, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George approved the requirements document for the program.

At last year’s AUSA meeting, the Army’s air and missile defense requirements officer, Col. Marc Pelini, described the sled approach as a move away from a fully integrated vehicle toward a pallet that could go in the back of an Infantry Squad Vehicle, a Humvee, a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or even a civilian-style pickup.

A follow-up U.S. Army request for information in March 2026 set out the requirements in more detail. The SLED must keep working when removed from its vehicle, and the vehicle must return to full use once the SLED comes off. The system is to counter small and medium drones, along with fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters supporting enemy ground troops.

The U.S. Army plans to reach initial operational capability with Increment 4 by late fiscal 2029 and requested $108.1 million in fiscal 2027 research and development funding for the effort, according to the Congressional Research Service.

General Dynamics Land Systems is the prime contractor and integrator for M-SHORAD Increment 1, known as the SGT Stout, which mounts Stinger missiles, Hellfire missiles and a 30 mm cannon on a Stryker. Increment 2, a laser-armed Stryker, was canceled, and Increment 3 is set to upgrade the Stryker system with the Next Generation Short Range Interceptor, a Stinger replacement, and the XM1223 30 mm cannon.