JED - March 2015 - (Page 26)

world repor t NATO PANEL REVIEWS EVALUATION METHODS FOR IR ANTI-SHIP MISSILE DECOYS The Journal of Electronic Defense | March 2015 26 A nine-nation NATO Research Task Group (RTG) is continuing efforts aimed at identifying techniques for modeling countermeasures effectiveness against electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR)guided anti-ship cruise missiles. SCI-224 RTG "EO and IR-Countermeasures against Anti-Ship Missiles," which draws on representation from Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with Australia as a global partner nation, has been set up to investigate the development of IR countermeasure evaluation tools for future use in NATO trials. The work follows on from a late 2008 recommendation from the NATO Naval Armaments Group's Maritime Capability Group 8 (MCG/8) on maritime EW. Soft-kill IR decoys depend on precise timing and positioning in order to be effective, and the advent of antiship missiles that use imaging seekers has made optimum placement of the decoy in the seeker's field of view even more important given the fact that these types of seekers can better discriminate between the target ship and countermeasures. As a result, the need has arisen for tools that can evaluate the effectiveness of IR seduction decoys. However, while anti-ship seeker simulators for the evaluation of RF decoy countermeasures already exist, facilities for the evaluation of IR countermeasure deployment patterns/ploys for anti-ship missile defense are lacking. SCI-224 RTG met in December 2014 for a three-day meeting to review project progress. "SCI-224 RTG is closing in on its goals of surveying available software modeling tools and running generic modeled ship/missile engagements for the evaluation, data collection and countermeasure assessment against EO/IR anti-ship missiles," said NATO in a statement. "Completion of the final report and consideration of future activities will be key topics at the next two SCI-224 meetings." It is anticipated that SCI-224 RTG will complete its activities at the end of 2015. As well as providing for the development of countermeasure evaluation tools for future use in MCG/8 trials, it is envisaged that, over the long term, the work will also inform a future IR upgrade of the planned NATO Anti-Ship AIRBUS, DSTO JOIN ON HFI FOR MILDS Airbus Defence and Space and Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) have partnered to upgrade the AN/AAR-60 Block II MILDS missile approach warner with a software-based Hostile Fire Indication (HFI) capability. The AN/AAR-60 Block II MILDS is a passive missile approach warning system operating in the UV spectrum. About 100 Australian Defence Force aircraft are currently fitted with MILDS, the system being fitted to MH-60 Blackhawk, CH-47 Chinook, ARH Tiger and MRH90 helicopters, and to AP-3C maritime patrol aircraft. Airbus and DSTO have been collaborating on a joint HFI technology development program for over five years, having recognized that MILDS Block II had a latent capability to detect muzzle flash, tracer and RPG emissions at tactically useful ranges. However, the HFI algorithm required to detect and track these different targets requires extra information in the form of additional pre-processor outputs and additional main processor software. Following data collection and testing, Airbus and DSTO say they have now matured and field-tested the HFI function as a pure software application within the existing system architecture. - R. Scott Missile Defensive Evaluation Facility (NASMDEF). The NASMDEF capability is to be acquired as part of the forthcoming NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff capability package. - R. Scott IN BRIEF ❍ Terma A/S (Lystrup, Denmark) has been selected to integrate the company's Modular Aircraft Survivability Equipment (MASE) pod onto Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) NH-60 helicopters. The MASE suite includes a passive missile warning system, chaff and flare dispensers, and the latest version of the company's ALQ-213 EW Management System. In 2003, the RNLAF integrated the AMASE (Apache MASE) pods onto their AH-64 Apache helicopters, and their CH-47F Chinook helicopters have been fitted with CHASE (Chinook ASE) pods as well. Other countries have fitted the MASE pods onto EH-101, Mi-17, Mi-24 and AS 550 Fennec helicopters. ❍ Thales (Paris, France) is a major winner in Egypt's order, announced last month, of 24 "Rafale" omnirole combat aircraft and one FREMM frigate for its armed forces. Thales, a member of the Rafale team with both Dassault Aviation and SNECMA (Safran), equips the aircraft with multi-sensor capabilities including the RBE2 Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar and the SPECTRA EW suite. MBDA provides the missile warning and chaff/flare dispensers for the SPECTRA suite. For the FREMM multi-mission frigate, Thales provides the Herakles multi-function radar, the communication suite, the anti-submarine sonar suite (ASM), the Artemis infrared search & track system (IRST) and the electronic warfare system (RESM/CESM). a

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JED - March 2015

The View From Here
Conferences Calendar
Courses Calendar
From the President
The Monitor
World Report
Charting the Future for DIRCM
How Far Can We Take GaN Technology?
Book Reviews
EW 101
AOC News
2015 AOC Industry Member Guide
Index of Advertisers
JED Quick Look

JED - March 2015