Veil of invisibility
Protecting aircraft from radio frequency and infrared threats remains a top priority for air forces in many countries, as evidenced by the increased activity in this area over the past two years
Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have traditionally been reticent when it comes to their military purchases, let alone airborne electronic self-defense systems as such. An exception to this rule is the statement by Leonardo that the Indonesian Air Force is increasing the level of self-defense of its Hawk Mk.209 fighters by installing a SEER radar warning system receiver. According to Dave Appleby of Leonardo, the product "will soon be operational" on these aircraft. According to the company, the system is available in two versions: one covers the frequency range from 0.5 GHz to 18 GHz, and the second covers the range from 2 to 10 GHz.
Europe
Meanwhile, in November 2016, Leonardo confirmed that the British Air Force had received BriteCloud radio frequency decoys in order to develop a theory for the combat use of these targets aboard the Panavia Tornado-GR4 fighter. Appleby noted that the decoy “is a digital RF jammer in a fully self-contained unit, reduced to the size of a beverage can. That is, this unit is so small that it can be dropped from a fighter in the same way as a heat trap, allowing the most modern radar-guided missiles and fire control radars to be diverted from the aircraft. " Although Leonardo does not provide information on when the BriteCloud system could enter service with the Tornado-GR4 fighters. this is expected to happen as early as next year. Leonardo said the arrival of BriteCloud marks an important milestone for British aviation, which Appleby said will "be the first air force in the world to use this technology." He further noted that the Miysis DIRCM (Directional Infrared Countermeasure) system was sold to the first customer in 2016. According to the company, the system can be installed on helicopters and wide-body aircraft, providing comprehensive coverage against infrared-guided missiles, using lasers to neutralize them. “Miysis is ready for export and the first buyer was an overseas customer, but we have nothing more to say about this,” added Appleby.
European electronic warfare aircraft projects also focus on kinetic capabilities. At the end of 2016, Orbital ATK received a contract worth $ 14.7 million in accordance with the US law on the sale of weapons and military equipment to foreign countries for the refinement of existing Raytheon AGM-38B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) air-to-surface missiles. into the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) configuration. The reports indicate that the delivery of 19 converted missiles will be completed by September 2018, they will be installed on the Tornado-ECR electronic warfare aircraft of the Italian Air Force. Orbital noted that according to the signed agreement, the 500th missile was transferred to the US Navy in May last year. In addition, the program to create a new version of the rocket under the designation AGM-88E AARGM-ER (Extended Range - increased range) began in 2016, and as the company said, the project is aimed at “developing hardware and software modifications in order to improve the characteristics of the AARGM, including increased range, survivability and effectiveness against new complex threats. They also added that current activities in this direction will focus on the design of a new engine for the rocket, software updates, additional design improvements and tests. The technology development and risk reduction phase began last year, and prototype missiles will be delivered to the US Navy in 2019.
American companies are also active in Europe. Last year, Northrop Grumman was a success and was selected to supply LAIRCM (Large Aircraf Infra-Red Countermeasure) systems for the German Air Force's Bombardier Global Express-5000 turbofan transport aircraft used to transport VIPs. Information about the completion of the installation of these systems has not yet been reported. The German Air Force has also undertaken to increase the level of protection of its Tornado-ECR / IDS fighters, intending to install containers with electronic warfare equipment Saab BOZ-101 on them. A total of 39 containers will be installed from 2017 to 2020. The BOZ-101 system includes an attacking missile warning system and an automatic suppression system with the ability to launch false thermal targets to combat IR-guided missiles attacking from below and from the side.
The Dutch Air Force reportedly intends to upgrade its Terma PIDSU missile launchers installed on F-16A / B Fighting Falcon fighters. These containers will be upgraded to the PIDS + configuration with the addition of the Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) and a false thermal target dropper that can launch them diagonally. After modernization, the aircraft is guaranteed to be able to deal with surface-to-air missiles with infrared guidance. At the heart of this upgrade is the addition of the Airbus / Hensoldt AN / AAR-60 (V) 2 MILDS-F MAWS ultraviolet missile launch detection system. The installation of an automatic dropper will expand the functions of the PIDSU container, which until then could only drop dipole reflectors to combat surface-to-air and air-to-air radar missiles; it can now also distract IR-guided missiles.
In December 2016, Dutch F-16A / B aircraft also received upgraded Northrop Grumman AN / ALQ-131 Block-II REP containers. The emphasis in the modernization was placed on improving the architecture of the digital receiver and irradiator, which are part of the container. They received libraries of radio bands of a potential adversary to identify and locate threats and then generate deliberate interference to neutralize them. Based on open sources, the AN / ALQ-131 system covers the radio frequency range from 2 to 20 GHz and is capable of simultaneous jamming using 48 different waveforms. On the F-16A / B fighters of the Dutch Air Force, the original AN / ALQ-131 REP system was installed back in 1996. Each new AN / ALQ-131 Block-II system costs over a million dollars, and the Air Force has acquired 105 of these containers.
Electronic warfare container systems are also being developed by the Ukrainian company Radionix. which announced in November 2016 the start of flight tests of its Omut-KM onboard electronic protection system. Tests on board the aircraft should confirm the capabilities of the Omut system, which has already passed ground and laboratory tests. For testing, the system was installed on the Su-25 attack aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. The Omut system can be offered both in a container configuration and for installation inside an aircraft. The company notes that the architecture of the Omut system allows it to be installed on the Su-27 fighter. It is not reported about the beginning and timing of deliveries of this system and, in general, about its installation on the aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. In addition, the company also does not provide information on the characteristics of its system.
Russia
In May 2016, the Concern Radioelectronic Technologies (KRET) company announced the start of deliveries of a new electronic protection complex (KRZ) for the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters of the Russian Air Force. The KRET press release says that the KRZ includes: a system for determining laser irradiation, a missile attack warning device in the ultraviolet range, an automatic for dropping false thermal targets and dipole reflectors, and a laser defense system against IR-guided missiles. The press release does not say about the name of the new system, how many will be delivered, and when the deliveries and installation on the Mi-28N helicopters will begin. The decision to install a new KRZ could be a response to the shortcomings identified during the Syrian conflict in the equipment of this helicopter. For example, on April 12, 2016, a Mi-28N helicopter was shot down by a missile from a MANPADS in the vicinity of the city of Homs, both crew members were killed.
Surprisingly, the Vitebsk L370-57President-S electronic countermeasures complex was installed on the Mi-28N helicopters. According to open sources, this complex contains exactly the same equipment as the new complex announced by KRET to be installed on Mi-2N helicopters. The question arises whether the President-S / L370-5 complex was installed on all Mi-28N helicopters and was the helicopter shot down on April 12 equipped with this complex? In addition, is the KRET statement a consequence of the demand of the Russian Ministry of Defense to install the President-S / L370-5 complex for the entire fleet of Mi-28N helicopters? Further confusing the case are some reports claiming that the helicopter was not shot down by MANPADS. but crashed as a result of a technical malfunction. Later, in August 2016, KRET announced that it was offering the Lever-AB electronic warfare and electronic reconnaissance system installed on the export version of the Mi-8MTPR-1 multipurpose transport helicopter. Little is known about the characteristics of the Lever-AB system, for example, it can jam radio frequency threats within a radius of approximately 100 km.
Near East
At the end of last year, the American company Harris announced that it had received a $ 90 million contract for the supply of its AN / ALQ-211 (V) 4 AIDEWS (Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite) integrated electronic warfare suite to the Moroccan Air Force. The announcement says that these AN / ALQ-211 (V) 4 systems will be installed on F-16C / D Block-62 + fighters, of which the Moroccans have 15 and 8, respectively. The AN / ALQ-211 (V) 4 protection kit is installed inside the aircraft. It includes a broadband digital receiver that detects the transmission of radio signals in a complex electromagnetic environment and which can drop dipole reflectors to neutralize such threats. According to Harris, deliveries of these systems will begin in mid-2018.
Meanwhile, in February 2017, it was announced that Terma would supply MASE Modular Aircraf Self-Protection Equipment EW containers for Trush S-2RT660 turboprop aircraft supplied by the United Arab Emirates Air Force to combat terrorist groups. Each aircraft will carry two MASE containers connected to an electronic warfare control system also developed by Terma AN / ALQ-213. The Emirates Air Force will receive a total of 24 S-2RT660 aircraft.
Also in this region, we see the emergence of new electronic warfare products, for example, the SPREOS (Self-Protection Radar Electro-Optic System), an Israeli company Bird Aerosystems. The system presented at the Paris exhibition Eurosatory 2016 is designed to protect air platforms from IR-guided missiles, in particular from those that are fired from MANPADS. According to the company, the product is in the last stages of development and may have already begun its tests on board the aircraft.
Another Israeli company, Elbit Systems, has unveiled its new Light SPEAR electronic protection system designed for installation on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company is reported to have developed a system not only to ensure the safety of drones, but also to collect intelligence information in areas that could be dangerous to manned aircraft. According to some reports, Light SPEAR is based on the Elisra development system, which is already installed on a number of aircraft and helicopters of the Israeli Air Force, but has a lower weight, size and power consumption in order to optimize operation on UAVs. At the heart of the Light SPEAR architecture is a combination of an electronic reconnaissance system, mainly designed to identify, localize and categorize radar threats, and an electronic jamming system, whose task is to interfere with detected threats. The company claims to use the so-called DRFM (Digital Radio Frequency Memory) approach, whereby several jamming channels can be used simultaneously to neutralize threats in a wide frequency range. The company does not disclose whether the Light SPEAR system was put into operation, on which UAVs it is installed or can be installed. Elbit said in a statement that it also developed the Micro SPEAR jammer, which "is an extremely compact electronic warfare system designed to self-protect drones and electronic attacks." These two systems are joined by the new Air Keeper electronic reconnaissance / electronic warfare system, which “collects intelligence information and has the ability to interfere with enemy radio frequency equipment, which allows, when installed on any existing cargo, transport or passenger aircraft, to perform tasks such as, collection of intelligence and electronic warfare. Reducing the effectiveness of enemy radars and radio systems. Air Keeper is also capable of determining the coordinates of communications equipment, radar and other similar systems."
The emergence of the Light SPEAR system indicates an increasing trend in equipping drones with electronic protection systems. For example, in April 2017, the American company General Atomics demonstrated its MQ-9 Reaper drone (photo below), which took off with a Raytheon AN / ALR-69A radar warning system receiver installed in one of the underwing nacelles. At the same time, it is unclear whether the American Air Force (the main operator of this UAV) will install the ANIALR-69A system on all devices or purchase only a few systems that will be installed on the MQ-9 UAV when operating in areas with the possibility of external influence. While drones have always been viewed as the ideal vehicle for so-called "dumb, dangerous and dirty" tasks, at a cost of $ 6.8 million for a single MQ-9 UAV, it is no surprise that work is underway to protect these platforms, as well as their use for data collection. RTR over the battlefield. In December 2016, at the International UAV exhibition in the Canadian city of Toronto, Cognitive Systems presented its electronic warfare system designed for installation on UAVs. The system, which is a chip weighing 80 grams, can conduct real-time reconnaissance of radio frequency signals, identify them and determine their location.
Over the past two years, the countries of the Middle East have become noticeably more active in purchasing self-defense systems for aircraft. For example, at the end of 2016, Egypt acquired the AIM / AAR-47 Common Missile Warning System developed by BAE Systems for installation on board its Boeing AN-64D Apache attack helicopters, CH-47D Chinook multipurpose transport helicopters and UH- multipurpose helicopters. 60A / M Black Hawk. The $ 81.4 million deal includes training, technical assistance and equipment testing. Electronic protection systems were also sold to the Egyptian Air Force through the sale of weapons and military equipment to foreign states (Foreign Military Sale). These are automatic dipole reflectors and false thermal targets AN / AAR-60 and AN / ALE-47 manufactured by Airbus / Hensoldt, designed for two light attack aircraft Cessna AC-208 Combat Caravan, purchased from the American company Orbital ATK at the end of 2016.
Articles in this series:
Eyes Wide Open: Airborne Electronic Warfare. Part 1
Eyes Wide Open: Airborne Electronic Warfare. Part 2
