C-17 missile countermeasures laser turret

Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) are a class of anti-missile systems produced to protect

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

from

infrared homing Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is rad ...

missiles, primarily

MANPADS Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters. Overview MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...

and similar simple systems. Earlier infrared countermeasures like

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...

s or hot block systems that produce random flashes of IR light are semi- or omnidirectional. This results in the missile seeker receiving relatively little IR energy due to the

inverse square law In science, an inverse-square law is any scientific law stating that a specified physical quantity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity. The fundamental cause for this can be unders ...

. DIRCM systems instead aim their IR output directly at the missile using some source of tracking information and a trainable emitter. This allows a relatively small device to overwhelm the missile seeker by focusing all of its output on it. Examples are produced by many aerospace companies, such as

Leonardo S.p.A. Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the eighth ...

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world. The company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land ...

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech ...

ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three business ...

, and

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

. A Russian example is the 101KS-O.

Method of operation

The systems use an effective method of jamming infrared missile seekers through the sensor aperture and can be placed in either active or standby mode. In the standby mode, the

aircrew Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions ...

must select the active mode to begin jamming

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...

(IR) threats. The pulsing flashes of IR energy confuse the missile guidance system, preventing the tracking of the target aircraft.

Systems

AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis

The AN/AAQ-24 system, or "Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signatures against Integrated Sensors" (NEMESIS), is a directional infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) system. It consists of a missile warning system ( AN/AAR-54), an integration unit, a processor, and laser turrets (Small Laser Transmitter Assembly, SLTA). Early versions of this system used an arc lamp to generate the jammer

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

. The newer versions of this system produced by

use diode-based pump systems and are known by the name GUARDIAN. These systems are intended for potential fitting to commercial carriers pending the completion of multiple tests on the viability of such options. The AN/AAQ-24 system is installed in the

Northrop Grumman Guardian The Northrop Grumman Guardian is a passive anti-missile countermeasure system designed specifically to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-launched missiles (commonly known as MANPADS), using directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) t ...

system marketed for commercial aircraft. The system will be installed by 2025 on

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of t ...

MC-130 The Lockheed MC-130 is the basic designation for a family of special mission aircraft operated by the United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a wing of the Air Education and Training Command, and an AFSOC-gained wing of the ...

, CV-22, and the

CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

. Large Aircraft Infrared Counter-Measure system (LAIRCM) was a

US Military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...

requirement for protecting its large aircraft from infrared-guided missiles. The AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis system was produced to serve this requirement. LAIRCM-Lite is a C-17 program that uses a combination of laser jamming DIRCM and flares due to the limited availability of LAIRCM components.

101KS-O

The 101KS-O is a DIRCM system mounted on the

Sukhoi Su-57 The Sukhoi Su-57 (russian: Сухой Су-57; NATO reporting name: Felon) is a Twinjet, twin-engine stealth Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft developed by Sukhoi. It is the product of the PAK FA (russian: ПАК ФА, russ ...

fighter jet. It has sensors that are placed in turrets, which are mounted on two points: the dorsal spine and the forward fuselage under the cockpit. It uses modulated laser-based countermeasures to confuse or destroy incoming missiles' tracking mechanisms. The 101KS-O is the first DIRCM that is deployed on any fighter aircraft.

References

{{Reflist
Global Security

External links