Sierra Nevada reveals BRAWLR air defense system that’s already deployed — somewhere

WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corp. has revealed new details about a closely held new air defense system that it claims has already helped down scores of aerial threats, though it won’t say where.

At last week’s annual Air and Space Forces Association conference outside Washington, the company for the first time publicly displayed the Battery Revolving Adaptive Weapons Launcher—Reconfigurable (BRAWLR), which SNC says can carry up to four types of rockets and missiles at once to take out enemy drones and cruise missiles from the back of a pickup truck, a trailer or the ground.

The company says the system gives troops an all-in-one defensive tool instead of forcing them to lug around multiple weapons launchers made by different companies.

It’s also allegedly already seen action. The company told Breaking Defense in an email this week that BRAWLR has intercepted more than 400 aerial threats since it was first deployed in 2023, though SNC declined to provide additional information about its use.

“SNC is providing a new breed of highly adaptable air defense systems,” the company said in an emailed statement. “These systems are designed to be able to form their own integrated air defense network or to be able to merge into an existing one with additional sensors and shooters, improving the effectiveness and relevance of all elements.”

Sierra Nevada designed BRAWLR in 2023 after the US government approached it with a request from a foreign military customer, a company spokesperson told Breaking Defense. The Nevada-based firm, which specializes in integrating disparate hardware and software into bespoke military equipment, can build the plug-and-play missile launchers within six months, according to a company fact sheet.

The 7-foot-tall BRAWLR features four weapons stations that can swap out to hold rail- or tube-launched munitions, including laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rockets, which can travel up to 6 km (3.7 miles); AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, with a range of 12 km (7.5 miles); and the British-made AIM-132 Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile, for targets up to 15 km (9.3 miles) away, Sierra Nevada said. 

When configured for “beast mode,” the fact sheet shows, the launcher can wield up to 46 APKWS rockets at once. The system can also support the medium-range AIM-120 and short-range IRIS-T air-to-air missiles, allowing troops to take out moving airborne targets. A single person can set up the launcher in 10 minutes, operate it, and break it down in just three minutes, Sierra Nevada says. 

BRAWLR is the centerpiece of a diesel flatbed truck-mounted air defense system called the Mobile Anti-Air Weapons Launcher—Reconfigurable, or MAAWLR, another company fact sheet shows. That variant requires two people and 20 minutes to set up, run, and break down, and features two X-band radars to sense smaller objects as well as electro-optical and forward-looking infrared imaging systems and a radio that can reconnect to new networks if its signal is blocked.

“Additional kinetic and non-kinetic defeat capabilities, interoperability with additional existing US command and control systems, and expanded system automation are expected to be demonstrated within the next year,” the company said in its emailed statement.

Is BRAWLR In Ukraine?

Sierra Nevada has delivered 20 of each system so far, with another 10 apiece on the way, according to the fact sheets. A company spokesperson said the system has been delivered to “several” customers.

But the firm declined to discuss acquisition details — including the customers, the price of the contracts and each unit, and the machines’ success rates — saying the information is classified. But information published by Sierra Nevada and the US government points to Ukraine as a possible recipient.

For instance, SNC advertised on its fact sheet that the MAAWLR truck can fire the AA-10, a Russian- and Ukrainian-made air-to-air missile also known as the Vympel R-27, and travel via the US Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane or the Antonov An-124 airlifter. The An-124, one of the world’s largest aircraft, is used for charter cargo flights, including by Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.

Ukraine already uses each of the munitions that work with the two launchers. The systems are also compatible with US and European surveillance databases, according to the fact sheet.

In July, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced a proposed deal worth an estimated $180 million to sustain Ukraine’s US-made air defenses and provide related equipment. Though the release did not identify the specific air defense system in question, an initial version of the release noted Sierra Nevada and Virginia-based V2X as the main contractors, as well as two Ukrainian firms.

“The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s ability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions with a more robust air defense capability,” DSCA said in the release. “Ukraine will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”

The current version of the announcement on DSCA’s website no longer specifies which companies would handle the work. Sierra Nevada declined to comment on the change, and a State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the record. The Pentagon and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to emailed queries about the systems.

There is some recent precedent for companies to roll out equipment at defense trade shows several years after it began use in Ukraine — if that is indeed the case with BRAWLR. Last year, Aevex Aerospace brought its Phoenix Ghost family of kamikaze drones to the Association of the US Army’s massive annual trade show in Washington, putting it on display two years after news reports first surfaced that the US was sending the one-way attack drones to Ukraine.

Could BRAWLR Fight For The United States?

When Breaking Defense visited SNC’s display on Sept. 22, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kevin Schneider and Air Combat Command boss Gen. Adrian Spain stopped by and chatted with company officials in front of the system.

Sierra Nevada says it is “engaged at all levels of government,” including the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security as well as “numerous US allies and foreign partners.” Notably, American troops used BRAWLR in August to counter drones during Northern Edge, a sweeping air and sea combat-training drill held across Alaska with US and international forces every two years. The system surpassed its testing goals, Sierra Nevada said, and will participate in several more US-led experiments and exercises if enough equipment is available.

Other Sierra Nevada air defense products, including a passive wide-area infrared sensing subsystem, a modular palletized sensing subsystem, and a palletized integrated air and missile defense system, may also take part in those events, the company said.

In addition to base protection and battlefield uses, Sierra Nevada argues BRAWLR could plug into a broader military network as part of Golden Dome, President Donald Trump’s vision of a multibillion-dollar missile defense shield over the US homeland.