Slinger is an anti-
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
weapon system developed by
Electro Optic Systems
Electro or Elektro may refer to:
Music
* Electro (music), a genre of electronic music which originated in the early 1980s
* Electronic music in general or its other subgenres such as electro house and electropop
Fiction
* Electro (Marvel Comic ...
(EOS) of
Symonston.
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
, Australia. It was introduced in May 2023.
It consists of a
remote controlled weapon station
A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which ca ...
(RCWS) based on the EOS model R400 RCWS that uses a lightweight Bushmaster
M230LF autocannon which is
fully stabilised and capable of on-the-move operation. 150 rounds of radio frequency
proximity fuse
A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a Fuze (munitions), fuze that detonates an Explosive material, explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such ...
d, high-explosive/fragmentation
30x113 mm Proximity Sensing Ammunition are carried, as is a secondary
MAG 58
The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it has been made under licence in several countries, inc ...
coaxial machine gun. Rate of fire for the main gun is selectable at single-shot, 100 rpm, or 200 rpm. The Echodyne EchoGuard
4D multi mission surveillance radar is integrated into the system providing detection ranges of more than 3.5 km for vehicles and more than 2.2 km for individuals, while small drones can detected out to 1-1.4 km and engaged at beyond 800 m. The sensor unit includes a day camera and
thermal imager which can identify objects at 12 km and 13.7 km respectively. The turret system weighs 355 kg and has a height of 90 cm, so it can be mounted on the roofs of vehicles or even the flatbed of a pickup truck. It can elevate the guns up to +70° and depress them down to -10°. An operator controls the turret using a joystick from inside the vehicle; it is capable of tracking a target on its own for the controller to engage. The Slinger is designed for low-cost counter-drone interception. Compared to traditional missiles that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars being used against drones costing in the low tens of thousands or less, Slinger has a cost per engagement ranging from $155-$1,550; unit cost is less than $1.55 million.
[EOS conducts live fire showcase for counter-UAV Slinger](_blank)
''Electro Optic Systems''. 29 August 2023.
''Defense Express''. 2 September 2023.[Australian EOS Slinger anti-drone system ready to destroy Russian drones in Ukraine](_blank)
''Army Recognition''. 4 October 2023.
In September 2023, it was announced that 160 Slingers would be provided to
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
by EOS for use in that country's defence during the ongoing
invasion by Russia. 110 will be mounted on
M113 armored personnel carriers and 50 will be integrated onto Practika 4x4 light
MRAPs.
See also
*
Skyranger 30
References
External links
Slinger product sheet
21st-century surface-to-air missiles
Counter unmanned air systems
Weapons countermeasures
Remote weapon stations
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