The US Air Force has demonstrated a laser-based "threat adaptive" system for jamming infrared (IR)-guided surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
The weapons were jammed using the Lockheed Martin Laser Infrared countermeasures Flyout Experiment (LIFE) testbed.
Tests at the White Sands Missile Range used man-portable SAMs, and LIFE caused the weapons to miss their targets by large distances.
A USAF research official says the initial tests pave the way for LIFE elements to be used in new self-protection systems. Additional tests are planned against a wide variety of IR-guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles.
Source: Flight International