The FS-LIDS is a counter-small UAS kinetic system with multiple hardware and software parts that are interoperable.
Qatar has requested to buy ten FS-LIDS systems of systems which includes 200 Coyote Block 2 interceptors, an electronic warfare package, Coyote launchers, ku-band Multi-Function Radio Frequency System radars, Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control, EO/IR cameras and a range of support services and equipment.
The video above, produced by SRC Defense (a contributor to FS-LIDS), demonstrates the system of systems' utility.
The principal contractors in the deal are Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
The Gulf country has been steadily enlarging its C-UAS capabilities, particularly in the run-up to the ongoing World Cup. One of the other systems at the heart of its C-UAS strategy is the Fortem SkyDome.
Developed by Israel's Uvision and with systems being sold in the thousands to multiple European NATO countries and the US, the Hero family of loitering systems is also in production in the US and Italy, the latter through Rheinmetall.
The Leopard is becoming the tank of choice in central and eastern Europe as Croatia joins Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Hungary in ordering the platform. Lithuania and Croatia have also signed for CAESAR howitzers.
A new system-of-systems concept will unlock digital integration of sensors and weapons for Light Forces, allowing them to shape the battlefield environment on their own terms and upgrade legacy platforms.
The HX truck is already in use in many NATO and allied countries around the world as a logistics vehicle and carrier for high-value systems, including missile firing weapons, so its use for the Global Mobile Artillery Rocket System makes logistical sense.
Lithuania is one of the countries stepping up its defences in the face of the war in Ukraine with a particular focus on its neighbour and Russian ally Belarus, which has been making incursions into Lithuania’s airspace with balloons and drones.