The U.S. Air Force today awarded Armtec Countermeasures a $250 million deal to provide MJU-75/B countermeasure flares used on F-16 fighter jets.
This contract provides a magnesium Teflon Viton countermeasure flare, which is utilized on rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft such as C-130, C-17, F-16 to protect against infrared missiles, a U.S. DoD release today said.
Work is expected to be completed March 2027.
Military aircraft pop flares to counter an infrared homing ("heat-seeking") surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missile. Countermeasure flares burn at thousands of degrees and there is a wide variety of types, the vast majority of which ignite when their volatile compound mix is exposed to the air itself. These are can be referred to as pyrophoric flares.
Flares are commonly composed of a pyrotechnic composition based on Magnesium or another hot-burning metal, with burning temperature equal to or hotter than engine exhaust. The aim is to make the infrared-guided missile seek out the heat signature from the flare rather than the aircraft's engines.