The Tracked Rapier is a mobile version of the British Rapier SAM system. The original Rapier, which entered service in 1971, was a highly accurate, stationary system, but it was vulnerable to counter-battery fire and air attacks due to its limited mobility. Engineers at the British aircraft manufacturer British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) chose the American M548 tracked carrier as the chassis and mounted the launcher and a new radar on it. In 1977, a modified version of the system named the Tracked Rapier was presented at the Paris Air Show.

The British Army soon became interested in the project and acquired several of these vehicles, which first entered service with the Royal Artillery in 1983. The Tracked Rapier SAM system was used by the 12th and 16th Air Defence Regiments of the British Army during the Gulf War. In the late 1990s, the system was replaced by the Stormer HVM.

The Rapier was introduced in Update 2.45 "Hornet's Sting". It is armed with eight Mk.1E missiles with a range of 7 km or eight Mk.2 missiles with a range of 8 km, and it has a thermal imager for acquiring aerial targets. However, the vehicle has limited protection and its crew is vulnerable to most types of fire.