Alvis Stormer

The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments.

Alvis Stormer
Stormer HVM Close Air Defence Vehicles from 9 (Plassey) Battery Royal Artillery, 12th Regiment Royal Artillery, attached to 1 Bn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (1RRF), on Exercise MedMan, Canada
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Production history
No. builtover 220
Specifications
Mass12.7 tonnes
Length5.27 m[1]
Width2.76 m
Height2.49 m
Crew4
EnginePerkins 6-litre, 6-cylinder diesel
250 hp (186 kW)
Power/weight21 hp/tonne
TransmissionDavid Brown T300[1]
SuspensionTorsion bar
Operational
range
400 miles, 650 km[1]
Maximum speed 50 mph, 80 km/h[1]
A Stormer HVM firing a Thales Starstreak

The Stormer is a development of the CVR(T) family of vehicles (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan etc.), essentially a larger, modernised version with an extra road-wheel on each side.

Variants

As with most modern armoured fighting vehicles, the Stormer can be produced in several different configurations for different battlefield roles. It is marketed by BAE as being available in configurations such as a two-person turret armed with a 25 mm cannon, air defence (with guns or missiles), an engineer vehicle, a recovery vehicle, an ambulance, a mine layer, an 81 mm or 120 mm mortar carrier, a command and control vehicle, a bridge layer, and a logistics vehicle. Optional equipment includes a nuclear-biological-chemical protection system, an amphibious kit, passive night-vision equipment, and an air-conditioning system.

Stormer HVM

The British Army uses Stormers equipped with Starstreak HVM or Martlet missiles for short-range air defence. Under the Army 2020 plan for the British armed forces, Stormer HVM was to equip three regular and two reserve artillery batteries. The reserve batteries have since all been converted to HVM Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) to reduce the training burden.[2]

Flat-bed Stormer
A Stormer with Shielder system

A transport version of the Stormer with a flat load bed is used to carry the Shielder minelaying system.

Stormer 30

Stormer 30 is a development of the Stormer chassis as a tracked reconnaissance vehicle. It is a turreted version of the Stormer. It is armed with a 30 mm Bushmaster II automatic cannon. A TOW missile launcher can be fitted to either turret side. The cannon and turret can traverse through 360°. The elevation is from -45° to +60°.

The rate of fire of the cannon is from single shot to a maximum of 200 rounds per minute. The cannon has a double selection ammunition feed system with 180 rounds of ammunition ready to fire.

The vehicle remains in the prototype stage and it is unclear when it will enter service. The vehicle will be fully air transportable by Lockheed C-130 Hercules used by the Royal Air Force aircraft as well as the Sikorsky CH-53 helicopter currently in service with NATO allies and other nations across the world.

Stormer Air Defence

The Stormer Air Defence was a prototype air defence vehicle built in the late 1980s. This variant was to mount a dual Stinger launcher, as well as either a 25 mm GAU-12/U or 30 mm GAU-13/A cannon.[3]

Operational history
Ukrainian Stormer HVM during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

United Kingdom

The UK deployed Stormer HVMs to Iraq during the 2003 Iraq War, but they did not see combat.[4]

Ukraine

The UK donated Stormer HVM systems to Ukraine to support its war effort following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] Six systems had arrived by 24 July 2022.[6] Ukrainian personnel were trained on the systems in the UK.[7]

Two Russian Orlan-10 drones were downed by Stormer HVMs in August 2022.[8] In February 2023, footage emerged of the system downing an Iranian-supplied Shahed 13x-series drone.[9] On 11 March 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense released video footage showing a Stormer HVM being destroyed by a Russian ZALA Lancet loitering munition.[10] In May 2023, footage emerged of another Lancet destroying a Stormer HVM.[11]

Operators
A map of Stormer operators in blue

Current

Former

Notes
  1. "Stormer". Jane's Information Group Light Armoured Vehicles. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  2. "Force Troops Command Overview". Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  3. "The Eighties". Think Defence. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  4. "UK Is Sending Stormer Anti-Aircraft 'Tank' Seen in Star Wars To Ukraine". 1945. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  5. Parker, Charlie (19 April 2022). "Ukrainian soldiers training in UK to use British armoured vehicles". The Times.
  6. "Ukrainian military receives Stormer HVM air defense systems".
  7. Stewart, Heather; Sabbagh, Dan (21 April 2022). "Stormer anti aircraft vehicles to Ukraine". The Guardian.
  8. "Combat debut: British Stormer HVM in Ukraine downed two Orlan-10 UAVs". Bulgarian Military. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  9. Suchomimus's channel on YouTube: Alvis Stormer Intercepts a Shahed Drone on YouTube (uploaded and retrieved 25 February 2023)
  10. "Russian army destroys first Ukrainian Stormer HVM Starstreak air defense vehicle using Lancet drone | Ukraine – Russia conflict war 2022 | analysis focus army defence military industry army".
  11. "Footage of the destruction of the British Stormer HVM by the Russian Lancet drone is shown". VPK. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  12. "Alvis Stormer : Tank APC Modern TNI-AD". 11 August 2010.
  13. "Oman buys 18 British tanks – UPI Archives".
  14. "Oman buys Alvis armoured vehicles".
  15. "Scorpions to be Retired – Malaysian Defence".
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