Raytheon to develop new airborne towed decoy
Raytheon has received a US Navy Demonstration of Existing Technology contract to develop a modern towed decoy for the F/A-18 E/F, the company announced on 28 October.
The contract, valued at $33 million over 27 months, will see the company expand technology that protects pilots by emitting signals across extended frequencies to counter advancing threats, convincing hostile weapon systems that the real target is the decoy, not the aircraft.
The dual-band decoy will be partially based on design lineage from the company’s ALE-50 decoy system, which uses electronic countermeasures to lure incoming missiles away from military aircraft. Raytheon will leverage ALE-50 aerodynamic performance experience and advancements in compact electronic self-protect capabilities to support the Navy’s F/A-18 E/F decoy requirements.
AN/ALE-50