History Of Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD)

History of short-range air defense (SHORAD) Daniel Gunawan Institution Affiliation Short Range Air Defense is an assortment of anti-aircraft weaponry and strategies that aid in defense against threats through the air that occurs on low-altitude, primary helicopters and close air support planes that flow low. SHORAD helps to protect territories from both manned and unmanned air and missile terrorization. SHORAD traced its origin after World War II when the US Army Air Forces sought to come up with military aircraft guns that would be useful and more effective in the future. Amy’s primary concern was that their use of high speeds fighter aircraft made it impossible to make high volume hits (Global Security.org, 2019). Therefore, in 1947, after the Air Force became an individual entity from the US military, it sought an aircraft gun, and the Vulcan gun was born. The weapon worked by protecting forward area combat elements and assets from attacks by low-altitude operating aircraft. The Vulcan gun mounted on an armored vehicle contained over one thousand rounds of ammunition in six barrels capable of assaulting both air and ground targets (Global Security.org, 2019). In 1952, the air force developed the M42A1 Duster Gun. The gun, which was a self-propelled gun and mounted on a truck worked to maneuver enemies flying in low attitudes by producing rapid fire against them (Global Security.org, 2019). The firearm was effective during different weathers and enabled the military to zero in on targets, estimate the speed, the direction of the plane and the angle in which it was flying before shooting it down. In the 1960s the development of the Redeye man-portable air defense weapon saw the onset of short-range missile defense air systems. The weapon facilitated combat units with the ability to destroy very low altitude threat aircraft. Its utilization was within the combat areas, and the military troops moved with it all over, and upon seeing a threat, they would track the risk on an open sight, activate the missile guidance system, acquire the target and fires the missile towards the target who was five to nine meters away. In 1969, the military developed the Chaparral guided missile system. It consisted of a launching system raised on a full-tracked carrier (M730). The highly mobile system fired MIM-72A and MIM-72C/E missiles, which helped to protect stationery assets against enemy crafts flying low. The system was useful in identifying a target, tracking and firing when the weather was good, and visibility was clear. In the 1970s, the Roland weapon system phased out the M48 Chaparral. The missile system which was developed by France, West Germany and the United States in the 1970s, according to Army Technology began operation in France in 1977 before the US adopted it (Army Technology, 2019). The system mounted on M812A1 five-ton truck provided short-range air protection from missile during all weathers and carried ten rounds of magazines and rockets on the launch rails. The system was valuable as it reloaded automatically and was fast and accurate in tracking targ...