Leonardo begins BriteCloud decoy deliveries to RAF
Leonardo has begun delivering its BriteCloud decoy to the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), the company announced on 28 March.
The countermeasure protects fighter jets from modern radar-guided missiles. BriteCloud stows a sophisticated electronic radar jamming system into a package just a few inches long. The decoy can fit into a fighter aircraft’s standard chaff and flare dispenser and can be ejected at the push of a button if the aircraft is locked onto by a modern radar guided missile.
Upon launch, BriteCloud powers up and its automatic jammer produces a ‘ghost’ signal to defeat an enemy’s radar, and can protect its host aircraft even in situations where traditional chaff and flare countermeasures would be ineffective.
The technology is called an active expendable decoy; 'active' because of the electronic jammer and 'expendable' because the decoy is fired away from the combat jet to create a large ‘miss distance’ for an incoming missile.
The acceptance of BriteCloud into service follows a series of tests carried out by the RAF in the US in June 2017, which saw dozens of BriteCloud decoys launched from Tornado GR4 aircraft by the RAF’s 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron against high-tech radar guidance systems.
The RAF will be the first air force in the world to field this new protective technology.
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