The U.S. Army renamed the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) system for Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout during an Army birthday festival today at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Stout, an artilleryman with the 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, was killed during the Vietnam War protecting fellow Soldiers. The Sergeant Stout, integrated onto Stryker A1 platforms, enhances aerial threat defense with capabilities against unmanned aircraft systems, rotary wing, fixed-wing aircraft and various aircraft types. General Dynamics Land Systems leads the program, incorporating Leonardo DRS’s mission equipment, including the Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP) turret and Rada USA’s Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar. The initial configuration equips the Sergeant Stout with Longbow Hellfire missiles, Stinger Vehicle Universal Launcher, XM914 30 mm Bushmaster Chain Gun, and M240 7.62 mm machine gun. Ongoing upgrades include the integration of the Next Generation Short Range Interceptor missile and exploring options like a Stryker-mounted 50-kilowatt laser prototype.
Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Regiment were the first to receive and test four of the increment one defense systems. They successfully conducted live-fire tests at the Putlos Bundeswehr range on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in 2021 and became fully equipped with the systems in 2023. The Army plans to field 144 air defense systems to four battalions by fiscal year 2025 with an additional 18 systems for training, operational spares and testing. Incremental upgrades to the system will feature enhanced effects including directed energy, and improved missiles and ammunition. The Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office completed the delivery of four directed energy systems to the 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment last fall.
“Naming this game-changing air defense capability after Sgt. Stout was appropriate and well-deserved, given his heroic efforts to protect fellow Soldiers from danger. The M-SHORAD was designed to do the same against a variety of airborne threats. The M-SHORAD family of systems adds commensurate mobility or survivability to maneuvering forces and joint maneuvering forces through protection against enemy air threats. Its flexibility and versatility provide a best value for the nation and increases Soldier capabilities through performance and training capabilities,” said Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology.
Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout joined the Army in August 1967 at 17 years old after dropping out of high school. He completed paratrooper school before the Army realized he was too young when he joined and discharged him. By that time, he already turned 18. He went to a recruiter’s office the very next day and signed up again, this time as an artilleryman. Stout completed a tour in Vietnam and returned home in 1969. A few weeks after returning to Vietnam, on March 12, 1970, a North Vietnamese company attacked his unit’s firing position at the Khe Gio Bridge. Stout and a crew of Soldiers went into a bunker as they came under heavy mortar fire. When the firing stopped, the enemy threw a grenade into the bunker, prompting Stout to act and save the lives of his fellow Soldiers. Stout was posthumously presented with the Medal of Honor on July 17, 1974. He is the only Army air defense artilleryman to earn the award.
