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Leonardo’s BriteCloud Expendable Active Decoy Makes Show Debut

Our Bureau - : Mar 16, 2023 - : 6:23 am

Leonardo is exhibiting its world-first BriteCloud expendable active decoy for the first time in Japan at the ongoing DSEI. A Company official said BriteCloud was being showcased in Japan in response to an increase in requirements for sophisticated RF protection across the Asia Pacific region. BriteCloud is a life-saving countermeasure that provides high-tech protection from radar-guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. The official said that many regional operators have expressed an interest in BriteCloud, adding that it can be carried by combat, transport and special mission aircraft. BriteCloud could also be effectively employed by the Japan Air Self-Defence Force’s F-2 fighter jets and the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force’s P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. “BriteCloud’s unique combination of latest-generation threat protection with extremely low integration costs continues to generate significant international interest and Leonardo is in talks with a number of Air Forces internationally about the capability,” the official noted.

Fired like a flare, BriteCloud contains a powerful miniature jammer that sends out convincing ‘electronic decoy’ signals that seduce incoming missiles towards the decoy as it falls away from the aircraft. BriteCloud is unique in that it employs ‘gold-standard’ RF technology known as Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM), which allows BriteCloud to tailor its ‘electronic decoy’ signal to the specific threat radar, allowing it to fool the radar in the most effective possible way. BriteCloud is now undergoing evaluation for potential service with U.S. Armed Forces under the Office of Secretary of Defence (OSD) Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) programme. The U.S. Air National Guard (ANG) has issued a ‘fielding recommendation’ for Leonardo’s BriteCloud 218 variant, tested on US F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. This means that the service, which has conducted an extensive testing and live trials campaign with BriteCloud since 2019, is confident that the decoy meets and, in some instances, even exceeds operational requirements, delivering an increased platform protection capability to 4th generation fighter aircraft like the F-16. The U.S. ANG has designated the BriteCloud 218 as AN/ALQ-260(V)1 in US service. Leonardo’s original BriteCloud 55 decoy (a slightly larger variant, compatible with round 55mm flare dispensers such as those on the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen C/D), is in service with the UK Royal Air Force.

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