The system consists of the Blazer air defence turret, developed by General Dynamics Armaments Systems and Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF) Airsys of Bagneaux, France, installed on a modified LAV-25 vehicle, manufactured by the Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada. The LAV-AD 8 x 8 wheeled vehicle has all-terrain and amphibious mobility.

The Blazer turret for the LAV-AD includes two air defence weapons: the GAU-12/U 25-mm Gatling gun and two four-Stinger surface-to-air missile launcher pods. The gun and missile combination provides quick and decisive reaction to close-in, low-flying air threats. The turret is all-electric driven and is controlled by either of two turret operators, the commander and the gunner. A stabilisation system is fitted for fire on the move capability

The Stinger missile, manufactured by Raytheon, has an infrared homing seeker and a 3 kg high explosive warhead. Maximum speed of the missile is Mach 2.2 and maximum range is 4.5 km. Elevation for the missile and gun is -8 degrees to +60 degrees. As well as the eight missiles in the launch pods, another eight missiles are carried which are reloaded manually.

The 25 mm Gatling gun provides anti-air cover in the missile dead zone and has a rate of fire of 1,800 shots per minute and maximum range of 2,500 m. The gun is effective against pop-up helicopter targets, low infrared signature and ground targets.

Two banks of four electric smoke grenade dischargers are fitted either side of the front turret.

LAV-AD is equipped with an automatic digital fire control system. The fire control system is set up with user friendly firing sequences for both missiles and gun and the system is pre-programmed with 44 on-board air defence engagernents.

Primary target engagement is provided by the FLIR TV Sight System (FTS) which is manufactured by Raytheon Systems Company based in Arlington, Virginia, USA. The system provides passive acquisition and tracking of targets by day and night. The integrated sight system has a 2-axis, stabilised, digital line-of-sight director for fire on the move capability. The sensor suite includes a second generation, dual field of view thermal sight and day TV, coupled with an eyesafe carbon dioxide C02 laser rangefinder for passive target acquisition. The thermal imager is based on a 240 x 4 scanning array. There is high-resolution video output for detailed remote viewing.

A variant of the LAV-AD, the Blazer Air Defence System, has been developed by General Dynamics Armaments Systems and Thales Airsys for the export market. Blazer integrates a Thales Airsys TRS 2630P acquisition radar for early threat detection and cueing of the Raytheon FLIR/TV targeting sight. The TRS 2630P radar system is also fielded by the French Army. It has a range of up to 17 km and also provides target identification.

The Blazer air defence system combines the high-rate-of-fire Gatling gun with either the Stinger or Mistral infrared-guided surface-to-air missile system. The Mistral missile is manufactured by Matra BAe Dynamics and has a maximum range of 6 km. A fully automated digital fire control system allows the Blazer to carry out stationary and on-the-move target engagements.