BAE Systems has announced a collaboration with Leonardo to develop an advanced military aircraft survivability solution.
The interoperable aircraft survivability suite would consist of BAE Systems’ AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) and Leonardo’s Miysis Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system.
According to the British firm, the new solution will maximize the effectiveness of CMWS flare decoying while enhancing aircraft survivability with the help of an infrared countermeasure system.
It is described as the “most cost-effective way” for military aircraft to survive advanced threats.
“This layered defense against new and advanced threats will protect aircraft and their crews in the most complex battlespaces,” BAE Systems director Chris Austin said.
“Using interoperable, combat-proven systems is a smart, efficient, and cost-effective aircraft survivability solution for our international customers.”
‘Gold Standard’
The solution’s AN/AAR-57 CMWS is designed to detect incoming hostile fire and missile threats, alerting crews and automatically cueing countermeasures.
The Miysis DIRCM system offers continuous protection from infrared man-portable air defense systems.
It has a high-performance missile seeker head that produces a sudden, massive stream of coded laser energy to neutralize multiple threats simultaneously.
Leonardo vice president Tony Innes described the combination of the CMWS and DIRCM system as the “gold standard” in protection against infrared missiles.
“We are very pleased to be able to offer this capability to operators around the world in collaboration with BAE Systems. The AN/AAR-57 CMWS is in service on thousands of platforms worldwide, making it highly complementary to our readily exportable Miysis DIRCM,” he said.