Airborne dual-band decoy for U.S. Navy delivered by Raytheon
NewsOctober 30, 2019
ANDOVER, Mass. Raytheon won a $33 million U.S. Navy Demonstration of Existing Technology contract to develop a modern towed decoy for the F/A-18 E/F over the next 27 months.
According to the company, the technology protects pilots by emitting signals across extended frequencies to counter advancing threats, convincing hostile weapon systems that the real target is the decoy, not the aircraft.
The dual-band decoy is based in part on design lineage from the ALE-50, a decoy system that has deployed in multiple military operations protecting both U.S. and allied aircraft.
Raytheon has delivered more than 29,000 ALE-50 units and will leverage ALE-50 aerodynamic performance experience and advancements in compact electronic self-protect capabilities to support the Navy's F/A-18 E/F decoy requirements.
