Article Posted on : - Sep 15, 2011

Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer (MALD). Raytheon Photo.

LONDON (BNS): Raytheon has delivered the first eight Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer initial operational test and evaluation units to the US Air Force.

US Air Force will conduct numerous flight tests on the MALD-J to evaluate the system in operationally realistic and demanding scenarios.

MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300 pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (about 575 statute miles).

"Because MALD-J offers the war fighter stand-in jamming capability, the need for aviators to fly to conduct dangerous jamming missions will be greatly reduced once the system reaches initial operational capability in late 2012," Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Air Warfare Systems said in a company press release.

MALD protects aircrews and their aircraft by duplicating the combat flight profiles and signatures of US and allied aircraft.

The MALD-J adds radar-jamming capability to the basic MALD platform.