Re-purposing gun based anti-aircraft systems

Abstract

Between the late 1960s and mid-1990s, American ground forces employed the Vulcan Air Defence System (VADS), for use against short range, aerial and ground targets. The VADS was mobile and comprised a radar and a six barrelled 20 mm autocannon, but this was soon found to be ineffective against fast aircraft at low altitudes. Despite being an old technology by 1982 an Israeli VADS downed a fighter jet and this is believed to be the only time in VADS operational history. This happened during the 1982 Israel – Lebanon war in the midst of intense ground combat and where the VADS helped unexpectedly. That event, the VADS withdrawal from operations in the 1990s, and their recent reappearance in use against drones are discussed.