Tim Ripley
Marconi Avionics group has won a £2-million UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract for a technology demonstrator programme (TDP) to produce a solid state mid-infrared single band laser.
The laser equipment is designed for use in the directed infrared counter measure (DIRCM) system, which protects both civil and military aircraft against the threat posed by modern heat-seeking missiles.
Delivered
The 'A' model laser equipment was delivered in May 1999 to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA).
A flight-qualified laser jamming system based on a Northrop Grumman Nemesis DIRCM will be integrated with a Sea King helicopter for flight trials on a DERA range this autumn.
The development of this laser equipment and subsequent flight trial is the climax of a MoD and DERA led programme to establish robust techniques for defeating heat-seeking missiles.
The programme is a vital element towards increasing aircraft survivability, as 80% of military aircraft losses over the last 30 years are a result of engagement by such missiles.
Marconi teamed with Northrop Grumman to jointly develop an advanced counter-measure system that seduces the missile away from the target aircraft.
A missile approach warning system provides the initial missile alert and cues the DIRCM transmitter to the bearing of the approaching threat.
The jammer transmitter precisely directs a series of pulses of infrared energy into the seeker, resulting in the threat missing the target.
Mounted
During recent live fight trials, DIRCM was mounted on a remotely controlled helicopter which then had 12 production standard surface-to-air missiles fired at it.
DIRCM provided an impressive display of its capability in defeating all of these attacks.
The award of this latest contract will allow Marconi to complete development of a mid-IR laser to advance the effectiveness of DIRCM further into the next millennium.
Source: Flight Daily News