Helicopter Gets New Countermeasures Protection

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A new technology will protecting aircraft from various threats. Traditional threat warning and countermeasure systems are designed to identify and defeat known threats. Infrared seeking missiles and RF guided threats are confused by flares, chaff and RF decoys dispensed by the protected platform, to distract the missile seeker and disrupt its ability to track the target.

Legacy countermeasure systems lack the communications, inventory management, and customized response necessary to defeat evolving and future threats. Moreover, such systems often release countermeasures in preset sequences thus wasting scarce resources that may not be suitable to defeat specific threat behavior.

A new countermeasures suite will protect helicopters and aircraft from anti-aircraft threats. By better managing the deployment of traditional countermeasures, BAE Systems’ Smart D2 technology acts as a layered defensive system protecting aircraft and aircrews from existing and emerging threats.

According to defense-update.com, the system builds on the proven ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System, widely used by US services and foreign air forces.

Sensors include a passive missile warning sensor and a radar warning receiver. Additional sensors track and interrogate threats to enable rapid response.

The system also addresses the cyber threat that put connected combat platforms at risk.

The system integrates a cyber receiver that monitors the platform’s databus to identify anomalies that could be caused by an adversary. Once detected, such activities are mitigated and neutralized.

The system employs multiple dispensers containing a mix of standard and multi-shot and hard kill countermeasure cartridges, or chaff, RF decoys, and hard kill countermeasures. For known threats, Smart D2 tailors the most suitable countermeasure mix, while unidentified threats are engaged with the hard-kill interceptors that receive cueing from the system’s sensors. Combined, the different countermeasures provide the platform with a layered defense.

The system monitors the quantity, location, age, and carriage life of each expendable cartridge on the aircraft and can deploy a tailored mix of smart countermeasures to efficiently defeat specific and advanced threats. This automatic inventory management removes human error from the equation, ensuring there will never be expired expendables on the aircraft – empowering the pilot to confidently take on any mission.