GRAHAM WARWICK /WASHINGTONDC
BAE Systems and Raytheon are competing to equip US Air Force special operations Lockheed Martin C-130s with towed decoys. BAE is offering the ALE-55 fibre-optic towed decoy (FOTD) under development for the Boeing F/A-18E/F, F-15 and B-1B, while Raytheon is proposing a fibre-optic upgrade of its ALE-50 decoy, dubbed the FO-50.
Both companies have flight-tested FOTDs on the C-130. Prime contractor Boeing is looking for a reel-out/reel-in decoy for MC-130 Combat Talon I/IIs and AC-130 gunships. Two underwing pods will each house four decoys, capable of rapid launch and recovery, connected by fibre-optic towline to the aircraft's jamming system.
BAE's ALE-55 is in flight testing on the F/A-18, where the decoy is deployed from a canister mounted between the engines. After problems with afterburner plume impingement on the towline causing burn-through, the US Navy has flight tested a temperature-resistant fibre-optic line. The towline withstood more than triple the required duration immersed in the afterburner plume and maintained optical and electrical continuity, says Mike Williams, director of radio-frequency countermeasures programmes at BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems.
The high-power FOTD is scheduled to become operational on the F/A-18E/F in 2005 as part of the Block 3 integrated defensive electronic countermeasures (IDECM) system. The Block 1 system now in service uses the ALE-50, and the IDECM Block 2 scheduled for deployment in 2004 will combine the Raytheon decoy with the BAE/ITT ALQ-214 jamming system planned for the Block 3 version.
The ALE-55 is also planned for the B-1B, although Raytheon's private-venture FO-50 is being eyed as an alternative. Flight testing of the F-15's ALE-55, using the high-temperature towline developed for the F/A-18, is planned to start in 2004.
Source: Flight International
