BAE Systems and Leonardo UK have been approved by the U.S. government to develop an aircraft survivability suite.
Intended to improve aircraft survivability against advanced threats, the capability will contain BAE Systems’ AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems and Leonardo’s Miysis Directed Infrared Countermeasure system, BAE Systems announced from Nashua, New Hampshire on Wednesday.
“This layered defense against new and advanced threats will protect aircraft and their crews in the most complex battlespaces. Using interoperable, combat-proven systems is a smart, efficient, and cost-effective aircraft survivability solution for our international customers,” said Chris Austin, director of integrated survivability solutions for BAE Systems.
The AN/AAR-57 CMWS is currently being used in the rotary- and fixed-wing fleets of the U.S. Army and its partner nations to detect approaching hostile fire and missile threats, alert crews and automatically begin countermeasures.
Over 3,000 of these systems have been installed on more than 30 varieties of aircraft, accumulating above four million total combat flight hours for CMWS.
Leonardo-built Miysis DIRCM provides reliable, continuous protection from Infrared Man Portable Air Defense Systems by surprising a missile seeker head with an overwhelming stream of coded laser energy that is able to defeat multiple threats concurrently.
Existing CMWS operators will be able to cost-effectively add the DIRCM capability using the combined offering, which will enhance the effectiveness of CMWS flare decoying and increase aircraft survivability with the directed infrared countermeasure system.
“The AN/AAR-57 CMWS is in service on thousands of platforms worldwide, making it highly complementary to our readily exportable Miysis DIRCM,” said Tony Innes, vice president of sales radar and advanced targeting at Leonardo.
Since the AN/AAR-57 CMWS is already installed in thousands of platforms globally, Innes said, its current customers now have a “fast, simple and low risk way” to integrate DIRCM protection into their platforms.
