Sending Stingers To Ukraine Has Increased The Urgency Of Developing New Army Air Defenses (From Forbes)

The U.S. Army has sent a significant portion of its Stinger inventory to Ukraine. The antiaircraft weapon has acquitted itself reasonably well, but has also shown limitations in coping with threats like Russian drones. U.S. Army leaders recognize they need something better, and are pursuing it in a program called Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD). The program has several facets, but its centerpiece is a Stinger successor with greater range, speed and precision against a broader array of overhead threats. The Army hopes to begin deploying the new missiles on Stryker troop carriers in 2027, but it ought to consider accelerating the effort given uncertainties in Eastern Europe and the Western Pacific.  The most important thing is to hold a real competition in which all the technological options can be considered and the service is not locked into the offerings of a single supplier at the outset. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.