U.S. Production of Upgraded Slinger Anti-Drone Weapon Signals New Counter-UAS Phase
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EOS Defense Systems USA announced upgrades to its Slinger remote weapon system that add Aided Target Recognition and selectable levels of autonomy, and confirmed plans to begin Slinger production in Huntsville, Alabama.
EOS Defense Systems USA disclosed on October 14, 2025, that the company is upgrading its Slinger remote weapon system with Aided Target Recognition and selectable levels of autonomy to accelerate detection and defeat of hostile drones while reducing operator workload. The firm also confirmed plans to begin Slinger production in Huntsville, Alabama to meet rising U.S. demand, a development amplified in subsequent trade reporting on October 15 and October 28.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
EOS Slinger remote weapon system is a stabilized 30×113 mm gun with proximity-airburst rounds, EO/thermal sight and 4D radar cueing, Aided Target Recognition and selectable autonomy for layered, cost-effective counter-UAS protection (Picture source: EOS Defense Systems).
Slinger is a lightweight hard-kill counter-UAS effector built on the EOS R400 lineage and centered on a 30×113 mm chain gun with specialized fragmentation ammunition optimized for small unmanned aircraft. The mount is fully stabilized for on-the-move fires and pairs a four-axis day and thermal sight with a 4D electronically steered radar from Echodyne, enabling precise cueing and track continuity against low-RCS quadcopters. EOS literature lists total system weight under 400 kilograms, with an official figure of 376 kilograms for a configuration carrying the M230LF and 150 ready rounds, and demonstrated engagements beyond 800 meters in live fire. Optional loadouts include 70 mm rockets.
The automation suite now in development matters at the tactical edge. Aided Target Recognition supports detection, classification, and fast handoff to engagement logic, while selectable autonomy lets commanders configure human-in-the-loop, on-the-loop, or guarded modes to match rules of engagement. The system can fight as a self-contained node using its organic passive sensors or accept external radar cues, which positions Slinger as a kinetic tile in layered defense where short-range surveillance assets nominate tracks and Slinger prosecutes with short bursts. Company imagery shows Slinger integrated on JLTV during the 2025 Bushmaster Users Conference, and naval configuration work is underway following a recent European order.
Interoperability is a key selling point for U.S. and NATO buyers. EOS markets Slinger as an open-architecture system that can plug into broader air-defense and battle-management networks, and the company has already integrated its R400 family as a kinetic effector on the U.S. Army’s C-UAS Directed-Energy Stryker demonstrator, which is fully tied to the FAAD C2 network that underpins Army and Joint C-sUAS operations. That experience aligns Slinger with ongoing M-SHORAD modernization, including the Army’s push for proximity-fuzed 30 mm effects in future increments, and with the Joint C-UAS Office’s system-of-systems approach validated in recurring Yuma Proving Ground trials.
Short controlled 30 mm bursts with airburst effects are far cheaper per engagement than missile interceptors, which allows persistent defense against nuisance UAS and swarms without exhausting inventories. Precision stabilization and high first-round hit probability reduce rounds-per-kill and collateral risk for base defense and urban settings. EOS explicitly frames Slinger as a low-cost kinetic layer that complements electronic attack and higher-end SHORAD missiles inside a layered architecture.
Electro Optic Systems brings four decades of remote-weapon expertise. Founded in 1983 and now spanning defense and space lines, EOS has delivered more than 2,500 remote weapon systems to customers across Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with its U.S. arm in Huntsville operating as the regional hub since 2018. Contract momentum underscores credibility, including the Australian Army’s recent selection of an enhanced R400 for the LAND 400 Phase 3 Redback IFV program, a 2025 European naval order worth about 31 million euros to configure Slinger for shipboard use, and Australia’s earlier purchase of 251 RWS for Bushmaster and Hawkei vehicles.
Ground formations and expeditionary forces need a mobile, magazine-deep, automation-assisted hard-kill to fill the gap between jammers and SHORAD missiles. Slinger’s pairing of a proximity-optimized 30 mm gun, cue-able sensors, and now AiTR gives brigade air-defense teams a practical middle layer for convoy protection, point defense of command posts and logistics nodes, and naval close-in drone defeat. As competitors push mobile gun-and-sensor solutions like Rheinmetall’s Skyranger and as U.S. primes iterate M-SHORAD effectors, EOS’s decision to localize Slinger production in Alabama and lean into autonomy keeps the system in the conversation for near-term U.S. and allied buys.
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EOS Defense Systems USA announced upgrades to its Slinger remote weapon system that add Aided Target Recognition and selectable levels of autonomy, and confirmed plans to begin Slinger production in Huntsville, Alabama.
EOS Defense Systems USA disclosed on October 14, 2025, that the company is upgrading its Slinger remote weapon system with Aided Target Recognition and selectable levels of autonomy to accelerate detection and defeat of hostile drones while reducing operator workload. The firm also confirmed plans to begin Slinger production in Huntsville, Alabama to meet rising U.S. demand, a development amplified in subsequent trade reporting on October 15 and October 28.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
EOS Slinger remote weapon system is a stabilized 30×113 mm gun with proximity-airburst rounds, EO/thermal sight and 4D radar cueing, Aided Target Recognition and selectable autonomy for layered, cost-effective counter-UAS protection (Picture source: EOS Defense Systems).
Slinger is a lightweight hard-kill counter-UAS effector built on the EOS R400 lineage and centered on a 30×113 mm chain gun with specialized fragmentation ammunition optimized for small unmanned aircraft. The mount is fully stabilized for on-the-move fires and pairs a four-axis day and thermal sight with a 4D electronically steered radar from Echodyne, enabling precise cueing and track continuity against low-RCS quadcopters. EOS literature lists total system weight under 400 kilograms, with an official figure of 376 kilograms for a configuration carrying the M230LF and 150 ready rounds, and demonstrated engagements beyond 800 meters in live fire. Optional loadouts include 70 mm rockets.
The automation suite now in development matters at the tactical edge. Aided Target Recognition supports detection, classification, and fast handoff to engagement logic, while selectable autonomy lets commanders configure human-in-the-loop, on-the-loop, or guarded modes to match rules of engagement. The system can fight as a self-contained node using its organic passive sensors or accept external radar cues, which positions Slinger as a kinetic tile in layered defense where short-range surveillance assets nominate tracks and Slinger prosecutes with short bursts. Company imagery shows Slinger integrated on JLTV during the 2025 Bushmaster Users Conference, and naval configuration work is underway following a recent European order.
Interoperability is a key selling point for U.S. and NATO buyers. EOS markets Slinger as an open-architecture system that can plug into broader air-defense and battle-management networks, and the company has already integrated its R400 family as a kinetic effector on the U.S. Army’s C-UAS Directed-Energy Stryker demonstrator, which is fully tied to the FAAD C2 network that underpins Army and Joint C-sUAS operations. That experience aligns Slinger with ongoing M-SHORAD modernization, including the Army’s push for proximity-fuzed 30 mm effects in future increments, and with the Joint C-UAS Office’s system-of-systems approach validated in recurring Yuma Proving Ground trials.
Short controlled 30 mm bursts with airburst effects are far cheaper per engagement than missile interceptors, which allows persistent defense against nuisance UAS and swarms without exhausting inventories. Precision stabilization and high first-round hit probability reduce rounds-per-kill and collateral risk for base defense and urban settings. EOS explicitly frames Slinger as a low-cost kinetic layer that complements electronic attack and higher-end SHORAD missiles inside a layered architecture.
Electro Optic Systems brings four decades of remote-weapon expertise. Founded in 1983 and now spanning defense and space lines, EOS has delivered more than 2,500 remote weapon systems to customers across Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with its U.S. arm in Huntsville operating as the regional hub since 2018. Contract momentum underscores credibility, including the Australian Army’s recent selection of an enhanced R400 for the LAND 400 Phase 3 Redback IFV program, a 2025 European naval order worth about 31 million euros to configure Slinger for shipboard use, and Australia’s earlier purchase of 251 RWS for Bushmaster and Hawkei vehicles.
Ground formations and expeditionary forces need a mobile, magazine-deep, automation-assisted hard-kill to fill the gap between jammers and SHORAD missiles. Slinger’s pairing of a proximity-optimized 30 mm gun, cue-able sensors, and now AiTR gives brigade air-defense teams a practical middle layer for convoy protection, point defense of command posts and logistics nodes, and naval close-in drone defeat. As competitors push mobile gun-and-sensor solutions like Rheinmetall’s Skyranger and as U.S. primes iterate M-SHORAD effectors, EOS’s decision to localize Slinger production in Alabama and lean into autonomy keeps the system in the conversation for near-term U.S. and allied buys.
