M167 Towed Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS) Training Demo

US soldiers demonstrate the capabilities of the system to Egyptian soldiers during Exercise Bright Star.

The M167 Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS) was a towed short-range United States Army anti-aircraft gun designed to protect forward area combat elements and rear area critical assets. It was also used to protect U.S. Air Force warplane airfields and U.S. Army helicopter airfields. The heart of the M167 was a 20 mm rapid-fire Gatling gun that fired explosive 20 mm bullets.

It also protected against lightly-armored ground targets. The M167 gun has now been withdrawn from service by American military units, but it might still be used by other countries.

The M167A2 VADS was modified with an improved fire-control subsystem. The improvement was obtained by replacing the disturbed reticle sight with a director reticle sight, the sight current generator with a digital processor, and the azimuth drive assembly with a harmonic drive. It also had an operating system byte[clarify] implemented within the system’s electronics.

Starting in 1994, the M167 was replaced in U.S. service by the M1097 Avenger missile launcher, removing all anti-aircraft guns from the U.S. ground forces. The U.S. Navy retains the Phalanx CIWS self-defense gun on its ships, which uses the same basic 20 mm rapid-fire Gatling gun as the M167.