Moog shows lightweight RIwP turret and MR SLED counter-drone system at AUSA
TLDR
- Moog showed a Lightweight RIwP turret at AUSA 2026, a base assembly under 950 lb against about 2,500 lb.12
- It aims to bring M-SHORAD-style air defence to light vehicles and robotic platforms instead of a Stryker.12
- Several figures rest on a single outlet each, and Kestrel performance is undisclosed.12
Moog unveiled a Lightweight RIwP at AUSA 2026, adapting the software architecture, fire-control interfaces and sustainment of the standard RIwP fielded on the Army's Stryker-based M-SHORAD vehicles (SGT STOUT) to a smaller footprint for light tactical vehicles, 6x6 platforms and unmanned ground vehicles.12 The base assembly weighs under 950 lb (about 431 kg) against around 2,500 lb for the standard version, and Times of Defence lists 85 per cent subcomponent and software/sustainment commonality with the M-SHORAD programme of record.12 The Defense News says it was designed for short-range air defence, counter-UAS and the Army's future M-SHORAD Increment 4 requirements.2
The demonstration configuration used a BC Customs PSXV-XL-6X6 light tactical vehicle carrying Moog's Kestrel and Aeon's Zeus tactical missile, with Echodyne's EchoShield 3D pulse-Doppler AESA radar and Picogrid's Legion digital integration software.12 The Defense News names the setup MR SLED (Moog Reconfigurable Self-Loading Equipment Dock) and reports it with 37 Kestrel interceptors alongside either nine or 12 Zeus missiles, noting that reports differ on the Zeus count; Times of Defence refers to the Kestrel as "Kestrel 40 mm" and gives no counts.12 The Defense News also reports Zeus as a missile originally developed by Aeon as an anti-tank weapon, with a publicly reported range of about 4 to 5 km and a unit cost of around $50,000, and says detailed public specifications for Kestrel remain limited and its performance against fast or swarming drones is not established in the available information.2
Times of Defence lists the platform as configurable for 30 mm cannons, 7.62 mm or .50 cal coaxial machine guns and C-UAS effectors, and cites a sub-3-second sensor-to-shooter kill chain against Group 1 to 3 UAS during US Army "Operation Condor Rebirth" trials; that figure rests on one source and is not independently confirmed here.1 The Defense News adds that Aeon and Moog completed a guided Zeus flight test earlier in 2026 from a Moog turret on an unmanned ground vehicle, hitting the target on the first attempt.2
Why it matters: the pitch is that a unit can get M-SHORAD-style air defence on a pickup, light vehicle or robotic platform instead of a Stryker, using the same fire-control software soldiers already train on; with several figures (missile counts, Zeus cost, kill-chain timing) resting on a single outlet each and Kestrel performance still undisclosed, the open question is how the system performs in an Army test rather than at a trade show.