Missile-warning and protection system passes international live trials, companies say
NewsOctober 12, 2018
ROME and PARIS. Leonardo and Thales revealed that their end-to-end missile-warning and protection system has been proven highly effective in recent live-fire scenarios, demonstrating the system?s ability to quickly defend against incoming missiles.
The integrated system was demonstrated as part of the SALT [Surface-to-Air Launch Trial] recently hosted by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) in Sweden. The U.K. defense ministry's Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) sponsored Leonardo and Thales's participation in the test, while both companies invested in the integration of the system.
The protective system as tested consisted of a Leonardo Miysis Directed Infra-Red Counter-Measure (DIRCM) system plus the Thales Elix-IR multi-function Threat Warning System (TWS), integrated through Leonardo’s Defensive Aids Suite (DAS) electronic warfare (EW) computer.
During the live-fire exercises, when an infrared missile was fired at a ground target protected by the Leonardo-Thales system, the Elix-IR system detected, tracked, classified, and declared the missile as a threat and rapidly passed an alert over to the Miysis system, which then tracked the incoming threat and accurately directed a jamming laser onto the missile’s seeker. Miysis used a DSTL-developed jamming waveform to confuse the missile’s guidance system, steering the missile away from the target. The integrated protection system can protect both military and civil platforms, from small helicopters to large tactical transports/VIP platforms.
