BAE Systems has won $76 million for the new manufacture of T-1687/ALE-70(V) countermeasures in support of PMA272 Air Expendable Countermeasures Program.
Work is expected to be completed by March 2020.
Airborne Expendable Countermeasures are electronic warfare devices used for pre-emptive or terminal protection of aircraft from Radio Frequency (RF) or Infrared (IR) guided missile attack. Countermeasures are grouped into threat categories of RF passive, RF active, or IR, and include decoy flares, chaff, and expendable RF jamming devices.
Decoy flares act as decoys for diverting heat seeking missiles, chaff provides a passive jamming action against enemy radar, and expendable jamming devices transmit RF power to counter airborne and land-based semi-active radar guided missiles. Countermeasure devices are deployed from fixed or rotary wing aircraft equipped with countermeasure dispensers.