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The mobile short-range AN/TWQ-1 Avenger air defense missile system is probably the best readily available system for protecting U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq from the growing threat posed to them by enemy drones.
In late February, photos purportedly showing Avengers being transported on a highway from Iraq to Syria emerged on social media. They were likely being brought to U.S. troops in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor region.
With its FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers, the Avenger is designed for protecting infantry against low-flying aircraft, cruise missiles, helicopters, and drones.
U.S. Marines training with an Avenger missile systems in 2000.
Lance Corporal Brandon Gwathney, United States Marine Corps
Until early last year, bases hosting U.S. troops in Iraq had no air defense systems. Their vulnerability was demonstrated when Iran attacked two of them with ballistic missiles in January 2020, in a retaliatory strike for the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike. The U.S. has since deployed high-altitude MIM-104 Patriot missiles to these bases alongside short-range C-RAM (Counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar) systems.
However, the Avenger is arguably a much more suitable system for providing ground forces protection against drones.
In early 2020, U.S. troops deployed in Deir ez-Zor’s oil fields were targeted by improvised drones capable of dropping small mortars, munitions which were apparently made using a 3D printer. While they failed to kill or injure anyone they, nevertheless, demonstrated the nature of this new threat U.S. troops now have to deal with.
The Avenger could provide ground forces in that area with some much-needed protection against such airborne threats as well as bolster those above-mentioned air defenses, which are primarily designed for countering ballistic missiles and small rockets, in Iraq.
www.forbes.com
In late February, photos purportedly showing Avengers being transported on a highway from Iraq to Syria emerged on social media. They were likely being brought to U.S. troops in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor region.
With its FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers, the Avenger is designed for protecting infantry against low-flying aircraft, cruise missiles, helicopters, and drones.
U.S. Marines training with an Avenger missile systems in 2000.
Lance Corporal Brandon Gwathney, United States Marine Corps
Until early last year, bases hosting U.S. troops in Iraq had no air defense systems. Their vulnerability was demonstrated when Iran attacked two of them with ballistic missiles in January 2020, in a retaliatory strike for the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike. The U.S. has since deployed high-altitude MIM-104 Patriot missiles to these bases alongside short-range C-RAM (Counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar) systems.
However, the Avenger is arguably a much more suitable system for providing ground forces protection against drones.
In early 2020, U.S. troops deployed in Deir ez-Zor’s oil fields were targeted by improvised drones capable of dropping small mortars, munitions which were apparently made using a 3D printer. While they failed to kill or injure anyone they, nevertheless, demonstrated the nature of this new threat U.S. troops now have to deal with.
The Avenger could provide ground forces in that area with some much-needed protection against such airborne threats as well as bolster those above-mentioned air defenses, which are primarily designed for countering ballistic missiles and small rockets, in Iraq.
U.S. Likely To Deploy Avenger Air Defense Systems In Syria And Iraq To Combat Drones
The Avenger could provide ground forces in that area with some much-needed protection against such airborne threats
www.forbes.com
