Not a manpad. An armored AAA system that operates in general support of tanks. But in any case, we won’t ever be operating tanks anywhere we do not have air supremacy. A drone chugging along at FL25 at 130kts will be/is helpless.
You’d need a pretty big gun to reach that high. Something like a ZSU or Vulcan wouldn’t do. A 76mm gun might do it, but I don’t think there are any modern SPAAGs with guns that big out there. The Italians had one called OTO, but I don’t think they ever produced it.
But when we’re talking about developing a new, armored self-propelled AA gun that can engage high-altitude targets with low radar and IR signatures, I don’t think we’re talking about “cheap” anymore.
It’d probably be cheaper to arm your own drones with Stingers and have them run combat air patrol.
Perhaps the best way to engage a small, cheap drone very high and slow is with your own small and cheap drone right up there in the neighborhood?
“...A drone chugging along at FL25 at 130kts will be/is helpless.”
What about 2000 drones?
One drone, maybe. 500 drones....that’s a different problem.
L