As part of the multinational exercise African Lion 2025, the U.S. Army has deployed its Avenger air defense system to the African continent, where it will operate under the command of the 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment from the Ben Ghilouf Training Center in Tunisia. According to an official announcement made on April 25, the Avenger is a Humvee-mounted system capable of firing Stinger missiles, making it an efficient and flexible platform for demanding environments requiring short-range air coverage.
Expanding on the system’s features, it is a program developed by Boeing with origins dating back to the 1980s. Established as a key component of the U.S. Army’s Forward Area Air Defense network, the Avenger is equipped to carry up to eight Stinger missiles to neutralize low-altitude threats (which can be launched even while the vehicle is moving), as well as a 12.7 mm M3P machine gun for self-defense. It also includes infrared cameras, optical sensors, and a “Slew-to-Cue” subsystem that facilitates semi-automatic target acquisition.
Regarding African Lion 2025, it is the largest exercise of the year in terms of scale to be conducted on the African continent. It is organized by the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force – Africa (SETAF-AF). Running from April 14 to May 23, the exercise brings together over 10,000 personnel from 40 countries (including 7 NATO members), who will be deployed across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia.
The main objective of the exercise has been officially defined as “enhancing interoperability among forces involved in multidomain operations,” characterized by realism, large scale, and the austere environments in which it is conducted. Notably, this marks the first time an Avenger system has been deployed in these annual exercises, clearly reflecting growing concerns about the increasing role of drones on the modern battlefield. Additionally, it is worth noting that of the countries hosting the exercise, only Morocco and Tunisia possess similar systems (such as the S-125 Pechora, RBS-70, Barak MX, and HQ-9), which means the presence of the Avenger could be seen as a way to geopolitically attract new African partners amid the broader competition with China and Russia.
Image credits: Sgt. Kenneth Rodriguez, Sgt. Jose Lora
