Raytheon to develop airborne dual-band decoy for the US Navy
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This news is classified in: Defense Missiles / Rockets Military Aircraft Sensors

Oct 28, 2019

Raytheon to develop airborne dual-band decoy for the US Navy

Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) was awarded a $33M 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.

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.

"Decoys are there to bring a pilot home safely – period," said Jeremy Carney , director, Raytheon Electronic Warfare Systems. "The dual-band decoy will look like the target, deceive threats and steer missiles toward it, rather than the aircraft." 

Missile Defense System Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2019-2029F

Missile Defense System Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2019-2029F

By Range (Less than 100Km, 101-200Km, and 201-400Km), By Threat Type (Subsonic Missiles, Supersonic Missiles, and Hypersonic Missiles), By Domain (Ground and Marine), By Region, Competition, 2019-2029F

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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.

"Pilots nicknamed the ALE-50 the Little Buddy during previous conflicts because it consistently saved their lives," said Carney. "The dual-band decoy will continue to do that in the face of modern threats."


Raytheon Corporation (NYSE: RTN)
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