The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $112.2 million contract to deliver miniature air-launched (MALD) decoys for its aircraft.
The MALD decoy is an expendable air-launched flight vehicle that looks like a US or allied aircraft to enemy integrated air defense systems.
This modification provides non-recurring engineering support throughout the engineering and manufacturing development phase as well as through payload integration and transition to production for the MALD-N.
MALD is a modular system that has the potential to keep aviators and aircraft out of harm’s way.
The US and its allies can confuse and deceive enemy IADS by sending a formation of the expendable air-launched flight vehicles into hostile airspace. Weighing less than 300 pounds, the weapon has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (575 statute miles). After it is launched from its host aircraft, the MALD decoy flies a preprogrammed mission.
In addition to protecting aircraft, the weapon offers counter-air operations to neutralize air defense systems that pose a threat to pilots.
A jammer variant of the MALD is the first ever stand-in jammer to enter production, according to Raytheon. The unmanned MALD-J decoy navigates and operates much closer to the victim radar than conventional electronic warfare when jamming the electronics, allowing aviators and aircraft to stay out of harm’s way.
