Leonardo DRS Expands U.S. Army Stryker-Based SGT STOUT M-SHORAD Against Group 1–2 Drone Threats.

Leonardo DRS has expanded the U.S. Army’s Stryker-based SGT STOUT M-SHORAD to defeat smaller Group 1 and Group 2 drones, with the company announcing on August 11, 2026, that the capability was demonstrated during a U.S. Government test. The upgrade extends mobile air defense against the small UAS increasingly threatening maneuver forces without requiring new hardware on already-fielded systems.

The test showed that detection and fire-control software changes alone can broaden SGT STOUT’s engagement range from larger Group 3 UAS and conventional aircraft to smaller drones. This software-driven approach could allow several hundred fielded systems to adapt more rapidly to evolving aerial threats while keeping short-range air defense integrated with frontline maneuver formations.

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Leonardo DRS has expanded the U.S. Army’s Stryker-based SGT STOUT M-SHORAD to defeat Group 1 and 2 drones through software-only detection and fire-control upgrades, without adding new hardware (Picture Source: Leonardo DRS)

On August 11, 2026, Leonardo DRS announced that its fielded SGT STOUT M-SHORAD Mission Equipment Package (MEP) successfully defeated Group 1–2 small unmanned aircraft system threats during a U.S. Government test event. The achievement broadens the demonstrated threat set of a system originally designed to counter larger Group 3-and-above UAS, fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing threats. Crucially, Leonardo DRS said the capability was achieved solely through detection and fire-control software updates, without adding new hardware to the MEP, highlighting a potentially important modernization path for several hundred SGT STOUT systems already fielded.

Software-Driven Expansion of SGT STOUT

At the center of the development is the SGT STOUT M-SHORAD Mission Equipment Package, built around a modular, open architecture designed to evolve as operational requirements and aerial threats change. Leonardo DRS describes the MEP as platform-portable and equipped with modular interfaces capable of supporting the integration of passive detection options, AI-enabled decision aids, edge computing and evolving effectors without redesigning the complete system. The latest government test provides a direct demonstration of that approach, extending effectiveness from the system’s original Group 3-and-above UAS mission into the smaller Group 1–2 category through software changes alone. With several hundred systems already fielded, the development is particularly relevant because future enhancements could build on an established readiness, training and sustainment baseline.

SGT STOUT is also designed as a maneuvering air-defense capability rather than a system intended principally for static protection. M-SHORAD moves and maneuvers in direct support of Brigade Combat Teams, with the MEP installed on a purpose-built Stryker combat vehicle so warfighters can remain with tactical formations while detecting, identifying, tracking and defeating low-altitude aerial threats. The system uses onboard sensors to provide 360-degree aerial surveillance and is designed to integrate with existing Army networks while remaining interoperable with Sentinel radar. This combination is operationally significant because it places short-range air defense directly inside the maneuver formation, allowing protection to move with the force as the tactical situation changes.

The Stryker-mounted configuration combines sensing and identification capabilities with multiple kinetic engagement options. It incorporates an RIwP turret, Stinger missiles, MX-GCS electro-optical/infrared equipment, MHR sensors, an IFF antenna, an XM914 30 mm cannon and an M240 7.62 mm machine gun. Leonardo DRS states that the system can destroy or defeat ground and air threats through direct fire and missiles, while the XM914 and M240 also contribute to protection of the vehicle and crew. Of particular relevance to the latest test, SGT STOUT is able to defeat smaller Group 1 and Group 2 UAS at closer ranges using direct fire when required. Operationally, this provides maneuver forces with more than one engagement option across a spectrum that now extends from small drones to larger unmanned aircraft and conventional airborne threats.

Strategic Value for U.S. Maneuver Air Defense

For the United States, the importance of the test lies as much in how the capability was introduced as in the additional targets SGT STOUT can now address. Leonardo DRS says several hundred systems are already fielded, meaning the demonstrated Group 1–2 capability is associated with an established air-defense fleet rather than an experimental platform. The company has not said that every fielded vehicle has already received the new software, but the test demonstrates an upgrade path in which detection and fire-control improvements can broaden the threat set without requiring new MEP hardware. For the U.S. Army, that could reduce the physical integration burden associated with adapting a maneuver air-defense system to rapidly changing UAS threats while preserving existing mobility, training, sustainment and network integration.

The development also reinforces Leonardo DRS’s emphasis on formation-based air defense, where integrated sensing, cueing and engagement protect maneuver forces rather than concentrating primarily on the point defense of a single location or asset. SGT STOUT’s ability to integrate with Army networks and operate interoperably with Sentinel radar supports this wider architecture, while its modular design provides room for future sensors, computing capabilities and effectors. The system also supports future growth toward directed-energy capabilities when available. Combined with operational insights Leonardo DRS says it has gained through its prime role on the Mobile Low, Slow UAS Integrated Defeat System program, the latest milestone reinforces SGT STOUT’s role as a software-driven and upgradeable element of evolving U.S. maneuver short-range air-defense and counter-UAS capabilities.

Leonardo DRS’s successful defeat of Group 1–2 UAS represents more than an expansion of the SGT STOUT target set. By demonstrating that a fielded, Stryker-mounted M-SHORAD system originally developed to address larger unmanned aircraft, helicopters and fixed-wing threats can be adapted through detection and fire-control software without adding new MEP hardware, the test underscores the operational value of modular air-defense architectures. For U.S. maneuver formations, that could translate into additional counter-UAS capability from an established fleet while retaining tactical mobility, multiple kinetic engagement options, Army network interoperability and a pathway toward new sensors, computing technologies, effectors and potentially directed-energy systems. As small UAS become increasingly integrated into the modern battlefield, the ability to rapidly adapt a fielded air-defense system to emerging threat classes may become as strategically important as the individual weapons it carries.

Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.

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