The Système de Protection et d'Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale (literally: System of Protection and Fire Lines Avoidance of the Rafale) or SPECTRA is a fully internal electronic warfare system jointly developed by

Thales Group Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...

and MBDA France for the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

. The full SPECTRA integrated electronic warfare suite provides long-range detection, identification and accurate localisation of

infrared homing Infrared homing is a Missile guidance#Passive homing, 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 "he ...

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the u ...

and laser threats. The system incorporates radar warning, laser warning and

missile approach warning A missile approach warning system (MAW) is part of the avionics package on some military aircraft. A sensor detects attacking missiles. Its automatic warning cues the pilot to make a defensive maneuver and deploy the available countermeasures to ...

for threat detection plus a

phased array In antenna (radio), antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled Antenna array, array of antennas which creates a radio beam, beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point ...

radar jammer Radar jamming and deception is a form of electronic countermeasures (ECMs) that intentionally sends out radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information. Concepts that blan ...

and a decoy dispenser for threat countering. It also includes a dedicated management unit for

data fusion Data fusion is the process of integrating multiple data sources to produce more consistent, accurate, and useful information than that provided by any individual data source. Data fusion processes are often categorized as low, intermediate, or hi ...

and reaction decision. The SPECTRA system consists of two infrared missile warning sensors (Détecteur de Départ Missile Nouvelle Génération). A new generation missile warning system (DDM NG) is currently being developed by MBDA. The DDM NG delivered its first in flight images in March 2010 and will be available on the Rafale from 2012. DDM NG incorporates a new infrared array detector which enhances performance with regard to the range at which a missile firing will be detected (with two sensors, each equipped with a

fish-eye lens A fisheye lens is an ultra wide angle lens, ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong Distortion (optics), visual distortion intended to create a wide panorama, panoramic or Sphere#Hemisphere, hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremel ...

, DDM NG provides a spherical field of view around the aircraft). The DDM-NG also offers improved rejection of false alarms and gives an angular localisation capability which will be compatible with the future use of

Directional Infrared Counter Measures Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) are a class of anti-missile systems produced to protect aircraft from infrared homing missiles, primarily Man-portable air-defense system, MANPADS and similar simple systems. Earlier infrared count ...

(DIRCM).

References

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External links

* Thales Group
Spectra
* MBDA Systems
Spectra
Electronic countermeasures Military equipment of France Thales Group