DB - Digital Battlespace
MAIR missile warning system carried out first flight
Leonardo has carried out the first flight of its Multiple Aperture Infrared (MAIR) missile warning system.
When integrated onto an aircraft it provides crews with spherical missile warning, hostile fire indication, and day and night imaging and infrared search and track capabilities, and for its first test flight that took place in Italy, it was flown on a rotary testbed to assess its ability to collect data.
Further flights will now take place to verify MAIR’s full suite of modes, Leonardo says, adding that while the testbed was a rotorcraft, fixed-wing platforms can also carry the system.
MAIR uses a series of distributed IR sensors to provide spherical coverage of an aircraft, and was developed in response to a growing demand for systems that can respond to the threat of heat-seeking missiles.
In missile warning mode, MAIR is able to detect incoming missiles and differentiate them from other heat sources, delivering detection and early warning with a low false alarm rate, even in cluttered environments.
This is possible due to MAIR’s processing techniques that draw on Leonardo’s experience in providing IR search and track systems for the Saab Gripen E and Eurofighter Typhoon fighter programmes.
MAIR can also automatically cue protective measures including Leonardo’s Miysis directed IR countermeasure system in response to threats.
In this scenario, MAIR would detect, track, classify and declare if an incoming missile is a threat and then pass the information to Miysis, which would subsequently steer the missile away from the aircraft.
More from Digital Battlespace
-
D&S 2019: Japan developing a multipurpose surveillance radar
The Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) will develop a multipurpose surveillance radar that integrates the functions of various existing radars of the Japan Ground ...
-
Eurofighter electronic combat role concept detailed
Airbus and its partners have detailed the new Eurofighter electronic combat role (ECR) concept at the International Fighter Conference in Berlin. The role will expand ...
-
US Army moves out with new radar jamming R&D
The US Army has put electronic warfare manufacturer BAE Systems on contract for research and development of advanced radar jamming technologies - a collaboration that ...
-
CMS receives USMC troposcatter contract
Cubic Mission Solutions has received a ten-year, $325 million IDIQ contract from the US Marine Corps to provide 172 Next Generation Troposcatter (NGT) systems. Cubic ...
-
L3Harris receives AN/ALQ-214A(V)4 work order
L3Harris Technologies has received an order from US Naval Air Systems Command for modifications to the AN/ALQ-214A(V)4 Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures System. Announced by the ...
-
Kratos announces new C5 product orders
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ Kratos Microwave Electronics Division (KMED) has received order worth $15 million in support of command, control, communication, computing and combat ...