The UK Defense Ministry was well on its way to deploying a 100% accuracy laser system able to defend aircraft from oncoming projectiles, recent live-fire testing revealed. The announcement made on October 20th, following a trial period at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden would mean that UK’s large aircraft such as the Shadow R2 and A400M could now be fully immune from the threat of missiles equipped with infrared seekers (IR). Under the project, a development effort regrouping the domain expertise and innovation of the UK’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Thales’ Elix-IR threat warning system integrators and Leonardo’s Miysis directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) system under Team Pellonia, the new platform performed perfectly.
Thales Elix-IR threat warning system has provided a fully mature system using a Medium Waveband Infrared detection system allowing longer range detection thanks to better atmospheric transmission. With an open architecture approach, the system promised to provide higher IR signatures coverage with greater accuracy even in cluttered environment. Interfaced to any other subsystem using NATO STANAG 4781 data communication protocol, traditional deployments have offered the Elix IR paired with Thales’ Vicon XF smart countermeasure dispenser system as a potent using flares and chaffs countermeasure releasing solution. Yet, Team Pellonia devised an even more potent solution integrating Elix highly accurate detection capabilities to Leonardo UK’s Miyis Directed Infrared Counter Measure platform.
The Miysis DIRCM system provided by Leonardo UK has gone through deeper modification, thanks to the collaboration of Dstl which developped the laser jamming waveform capable of confusing the infrared targeting seekers of oncoming missiles 100% of the time. This unprecedented level of lethality has positioned the Miyis DIRCM system on the fast track to production for fielding on UK and NATO aircraft in the near future. Team Pellonia efforts are continuing in collaboration with the UK Thales division in Glasgow and Leonardo UK in Edinburgh,
the Leonardo’s Miysis directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) which moves to track the incoming missile and direct high energy jamming laser onto the missile’s infrared seekers, defeating them.