Special Report – Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures

Special Report

Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures The Nightmare of a Complex Asymmetric Threat Environment 21st Century Warfare and Airborne and Naval Countermeasures Key Features of Countermeasures and Lessons Learned on Operation Converging on the Future

Sponsored by

Published by Global Business Media

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

SPECIAL REPORT

Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures

Contents

The Nightmare of a Complex Asymmetric Threat Environment 21st Century Warfare and Airborne and Naval Countermeasures Key Features of Countermeasures and Lessons Learned on Operation

Foreword

2

Mary Dub, Editor

Converging on the Future

Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures

3

Wallop Defence Systems Ltd

Sponsored by

Published by Global Business Media

Published by Global Business Media Global Business Media Limited 62 The Street Ashtead Surrey KT21 1AT United Kingdom Switchboard: +44 (0)1737 850 939 Fax: +44 (0)1737 851 952 Email: info@globalbusinessmedia.org Website: www.globalbusinessmedia.org Publisher Kevin Bell Business Development Director Marie-Anne Brooks Editor Mary Dub Senior Project Manager Steve Banks Advertising Executives Michael McCarthy Abigail Coombes Production Manager Paul Davies For further information visit: www.globalbusinessmedia.org The opinions and views expressed in the editorial content in this publication are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the views of any organisation with which they may be associated.

Material in advertisements and promotional features may be considered to represent the views of the advertisers and promoters. The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily express the views of the Publishers or the Editor. While every care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, neither the Publishers nor the Editor are responsible for such opinions and views or for any inaccuracies in the articles.

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Airborne Countermeasures Naval Countermeasures Anti-Piracy Systems for Commercial Vessels Infra-Red Flare Technology RF Technology Millimetric Chaff Decoys Wallop Defence Systems, Delivering Technically Advanced Countermeasures…

The Nightmare of a Complex Asymmetric Threat Environment

9

Mary Dub, Editor

How Serious is the Current Threat of Attack to Military and Commercial Aircraft?

What is the Availability of MANPADS? How do Countermeasures Deal with these Varying Levels of Threat to Aircraft?

21st Century Warfare and Airborne and Naval Countermeasures

11

Don McBarnet, Staff Writer

NATO’S Current Maritime Countermeasures The Importance of Layered Maritime Defence Layered Defence for MEDEVAC Helicopters Going Beyond Layered Defence to Technology Convergence

Key Features of Countermeasures and Lessons Learned on Operation

13

Meredith Llewellyn, Lead Contributor

High Safety and Environmental Costs for Processing MT and MTV Flares The Advantages of Laser Jammers The Limitations of Laser Beam Jammers High Energy Lasers (HEL)

Converging on the Future

15

Mary Dub, Editor

DARPA Leads on New Technology Ideas that Work – First HALTT Patent Applications to Secure the Future Testing, Testing…

Tested and on Operation Flares Provide Vital Secondary Back Up

References 17

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Foreword W

riting about counter measures for airborne

to counter Somali pirates and illegal drug and people

and naval use is a complex challenge.

trafficking. Undoubtedly, as America’s navies pivot

Counter measures must by their very defensive

to Asia, we will also see more countermeasures on

nature be secret or classified. However, the

ships in the Pacific.

ubiquity of their use and their constant updating

Countermeasures are, of course, constantly tested

and marketing makes it important to discuss their

on operation and the fourth article weighs up the

features and their capabilities.

strengths and weaknesses of various systems against

This Special Report opens with an article that

changing threats.

discusses the vital need for military aircraft and

The final item reviews current DARPA programs and

naval vessels to be safeguarded against a range

what may hold promise for the future. There is also a

of increasingly sophisticated threats. It describes

quick sideways look at new ideas emerging from the

various countermeasures that can be taken to protect

American patent office. With a cunning and resourceful

airborne and naval assets and, in particular, looks at

opponent engaged either in asymmetric warfare or

systems developed by Wallop Defence Systems to

insurgency with a mix of old and new weaponry,

shield aircraft and warships from attack.

the specialist countermeasure engineer has a

The second piece looks at the threat of the use of

challenging job to keep on upgrading current

MANPADS in the 21st century and the inventive and

products with new technologies while scanning the

well-engineered attempts to prevent them meeting

horizon for the next threat.

their targets. The third item looks briefly at the history of countermeasures and how that informs the present.

Countermeasures at sea have been critical in saving the lives of allied seamen and protecting valuable ships. Recently countermeasures have been adapted

Mary Dub Editor

Mary Dub has covered the defence field in the United States and the UK as a television broadcaster, journalist and conference manager.

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Next Generation Air and Naval Countermeasures Wallop Defence Systems Ltd

Proven platform protection for an uncertain world In these uncertain times, the ability to safeguard your aircraft and naval vessels against increasingly sophisticated threats is evermore critical.

Are you getting best value from your airborne countermeasures budget?

• Air Command needs control of the whole theatre airspace

• Aircrews want unsurpassed

survivability for their platforms

• Procurement expects best value from their purchases

Satisfy them all with Wallop Defence Systems Countermeasures

Wallop Defence Systems Dual Band Spectral Flares provide unrivalled survivability from modern ‘intelligent’ MANPADS.

M

ilitary aircraft and naval vessels are called on to perform an increasingly diverse range of operations, from peacekeeping and strategic military operations overseas, to border patrol and national security at home. In these varied environments they face evermore sophisticated threat from MANPADS and platform-launched missiles.

To expedite these missions successfully, commanders need to be certain that their military assets can operate effectively at times of risk.

Confidence in the reliability and performance of the countermeasures deployed on those platforms is a significant part of this effectiveness.

Wallop Defence Systems has been giving that confidence to forces around the world for over 50 years.

Continuing pressure on defence budgets means that modern countermeasures need to provide unrivalled protection for military assets but at the same time deliver low through-life costs and deliver maximum ROI for forces’ countermeasure budgets.

Wallop’s recent innovations have enabled their customers to better protect their assets and their interests. From next generation Spectral Flares and Chaff to Anti Piracy systems, Wallop Defence Systems has a capability to meet the full range of modern countermeasure requirements.

Airborne Countermeasures During conflicts over the past 25 years, over 80% of all aircraft losses can be attributed to air-to-air and ground-to-air IR seeking missiles.

The proliferation of shoulder-launched missiles (MANPADS) around the world now presents a real and increasing threat to forces seeking to achieve dominance of the whole-theatre airspace. MTV and Dual Band Spectral flares provide helicopters, transport aircraft and fast jets with unrivalled protection from both simple first generation launchers and the latest discriminating Dual-Band missiles.

The latest ‘intelligent’ IR missile systems have the ability to anticipate and aim forwards to where the target will be. To counter this threat, Wallop

It isn’t just Procurement that needs to know.

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Continuing pressure on defence budgets means that modern countermeasures need to provide unrivalled protection for military assets but at the same time deliver low through-life costs and deliver maximum ROI for forces’ countermeasure

SuperBarricade’s versatility provides layered protection against missile and torpedo attack.

budgets.

Defence Systems has entered into partnerships with a number of leading dispenser manufacturers to supply a forward facing capability that will launch decoy flares into positions ahead of the aircraft where the missile is anticipating the target will be.

Naval Countermeasures In recent years naval threat scenarios have undergone a radical change. The focus has long shifted from battles between massed fleets of surface combatants. Today, naval forces need to be able to engage targets on shore, provide air defence cover, fight terrorists at sea and protect civilian shipping from pirates.

The execution of these complex and wideranging operational needs means that naval countermeasures have to span all categories of vessels, from inshore and offshore patrol boats; through medium sized frigates and destroyers; to battleships and carriers, and provide fast-reacting, effective, layered defence against an increasing array of missile and torpedo threats.

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Ships of all sizes require IR rounds capable of defeating Anti-Ship missiles. The decoys must be highly effective against IR-homing missiles during the target search phase. A threatened vessel can surround itself with decoys when missiles attack is imminent. When the missile commences its pre-programmed search of the area it will select a decoy before reaching the threatened vessel.

Already in service with navies within NATO, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim, Wallop’s Super Barricade naval countermeasures system provides an essential shield for warships from attacks by advanced sensorguided projectiles, both airborne and sub-surface.

Equally effective on the high seas and in coastal waters, Super Barricade utilises chaff and IR decoys in a variety of modes to suit the scenario, to provide proven layered protection for all vessels up to Frigate or Destroyer size.

SuperBarricade comprises two lightweight, multidirectional fixed launchers (24 barrels in total) and a computer assisted tactical control

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Naval Decoy Countermeasures System Fast reacting, layered defence system for vessels up to Destroyer/Frigate size. Uses advanced countermeasures to protect ships from sensor guided missiles and torpedoes.

102mm SuperBarricade • Proven layered defence

against anti-ship missiles

• Confusion, distraction, dump & seduction modes

• Compact, reliable & effective • Deployed with navies around the world

• Low acquisition and through-life costs

The SuperBarricade system reacts to the threat scenario with a variety of defence modes; Confusion, Distraction, Seduction/Centroid and Dump modes depending on the proximity of the detected missile.

Confusion – Distraction – Dump – SeductioN

system that can interface with ESM and combat systems. Using spin stabilization, the ammunition accurately deploys chaff and IR payloads with very fast system reaction time. And depending on missile proximity, the SuperBarricade system deploys the optimum spread of countermeasures to deliver outstanding performance against all kinds of anti-ship missile engagement.

Wallop’s chaff payloads are designed and manufactured for use with all leading dispensing systems currently in use, for example BOFORS and SCLAR launchers. A wide choice of other leading configurations, like the 130mm NATO Standard Chaff cartridges and 76mm/115mm navel chaff rockets, is also available.

Anti-Piracy Systems for Commercial Vessels The proliferation of piracy, terrorism, drug running, people trafficking and illegal fishing are increasingly occupying the minds of navies,

coastguards and commercial ship owners alike, all across the globe.

In response to these threats, Wallop has developed the Triton 57, a simple to operate launching system utilising 57mm calibre illuminating and noise making ammunition.

With a range of over 1750 metres, a brightness of 250,000 candela and a sound signature in excess of 125 dbels, the Triton 57 system provides ‘best of class’ performance for the deployment of illuminating flares and noise making maroons.

Using the Triton system, merchant vessels operating in waters where there is known pirate activity can defend themselves with visual and aural, layered protection that denies the pirates the cover of darkness, and invariably deters the attack once the pirates know they have been detected.

Equally, coastal naval patrols and coastguards using the system will have the capability to illuminate large areas of water, thus denying their quarry the cover of darkness which their operations usually demand.

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Using the Triton system, merchant vessels operating in waters where there is known pirate activity can defend themselves with visual and aural, layered protection that denies

To the ship operator, piracy represents a clear and present danger in many regions of the world, putting at risk not only their vessels, cargoes and lives of the crew, but also the reputation of

the pirates the cover of darkness.

Triton utilises Wallop’s military proven 57mm single barrel launcher to allow commercial vessels to deploy illuminating rockets and maroon noisemakers to counter the threat of pirate attack.

their company and the confidence of customers.

Infra-Red Flare Technology The past 25 years have seen a proliferation of MANPAD surface-to-air missile launchers around the world, such as the SA-7 and Stinger.

In today’s uncertain world the need to protect airborne platforms of all kinds from the threat posed by these relatively cheap and easy to operate systems has never been greater.

MTV flares can significantly enhance an aircraft’s survivability against the earlier generations of these heat-seeking missiles and can be tailored to specific customer requirements and operating conditions.

Originally developed in partnership with the UK MoD, Wallop’s MTV flares are suitable for a wide range of fixed wing and rotary platforms including fast jet and transport aircraft. Wallop’s 118 and 218 MTV flares are produced to both standard and enhanced specifications and can be housed in multi-shot magazines fitted to a wide variety of countermeasures dispensing sets. Wallop’s 118 flare is also available as an Aerodynamic flare, effective against advanced kinematic threats.

The latest MANPADS are able to distinguish between the Infra Red bands of the exhaust signature of its target aircraft. These smarter missiles reject the high-energy output of a decoy

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MTV flare and continue to track the lower outputs emitted by the aircraft.

In order to create an effective decoy for these more sophisticated threats, Dual Band Spectral Flares reproduce the dominant heat signature of the aircraft at a lower energy level, which the missile then tracks as its new target. As a result, these flares provide unrivalled levels of protection from the threat generated by these discriminating missiles.

Developed in partnership with the UK MoD and operationally proven, 118, 218 and 36mm dual spectral flares are suitable for a wide range of helicopters, fast jet and transport aircraft.

The MTV and Dual Band Spectral Flares produced by Wallop for use on western aircraft contain a safety and initiating mechanism that provides improved operational safety for the crew, maintenance teams and the platform itself.

RF Technology Chaff has its origins in WW2 when aluminium foil chaff was invented to defeat Radar Frequency (RF) threats. Chaff is still widely used throughout the world’s navies to defeat RF missiles. However, chaff technology has significantly advanced over the past 60 years. The use of fine filament aluminised glass chaff produced by Wallop’s

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Anti-Piracy & Trafficking Deterrent 26mm Chaff countermeasure dispenser.

IR flares provide helicopters, fast jets and transport aircraft effective protection from missile attack.

Together with Wallop’s sister company Armtec, their advanced designs are in service on a wide number of fixed and rotary wing platforms across the globe. Many dispensers are serviced including the ALE-47, ALE-40, ALE-29/39, SAAB (BOZ, PHIMAT), M-130 and Thales Vicon 78.

As well as supplying chaff payloads for use on Western aircraft, Wallop supplies 26mm for use on FSU aircraft including the Mi-8 helicopter and a variety of MiG fighters. 50mm decoys are supplied for use on Sukhoi and IL-76 aircraft.

Millimetric Chaff Decoys parent group, Esterline, meets the exacting US Weapons Specifications, and provides enhanced decoy radar cross sections which, in turn, distract and seduce incoming missiles away from their threatened targets.

To combat the multi-frequency bands that modern missiles can use, chaff systems offer Broadband frequency protection whilst providing an excellent radar cross section.

Through the use of advanced design and manufacturing techniques, modern chaff systems ensure decoys bloom very rapidly with minimal bird-nesting which significantly enhances the aircraft’s survivability and operational effectiveness.

Wallop Defence Systems provides a comprehensive range of chaff products that are reliable and well-proven, having been originally developed in partnership with the UK MoD. The Company has an extensive Research & Development capability which creates chaff payload designs across the RF spectrum tailored to meet customers’ individual operating requirements.

The WDS RR-180 chaff cartridge supplied by Wallop provides dual-shot capability effectively doubling the number of countermeasures carried by the aircraft.

A chaff decoy is a cloud of resonant metallic dipoles. Consequently, when designing a chaff decoy, the aim is to produce the least dense chaff cloud that is practically possible, whilst dispensing a sufficient number of dipoles to achieve the required RCS, given account of mechanical dispensing losses and polarisation effects.

Almost all Surface to Air (SAM) missile systems use E to H acquisition and I to J tracking radars. This is why chaff countermeasures such as the RR-170 cartridge invariably specify E/F, G/H and I/J coverage. An important exception is the SA-15 / SA-19 SAM system which uses K-Band with C-band search and I-band command guidance.

The provision of K-band millimetric chaff for cartridges such as RR-170 and RR-180 is entirely feasible. The use of fine filament chaff to secure a sufficient RCS overcomes previous problems of obtaining a practical RCS in the region of 30 to 40 GHz, given the small size of the chaff cuts.

Specialised naval chaff decoy countermeasures have been developed to counter anti-ship missiles with frequency-agile capability. There is increasing interest in a millimetric capability for naval chaff decoys.

Experience from trials indicate that a practical millimetric capability for naval use is probably

A new 57mm launching system with illuminating and noise-making payloads to provide commercial shipping with effective deterrent against piracy. Also effective for anti-smuggling, drug trafficking and fishery protection operations.

Triton • Layered deterrent against piracy for commercial fleet operators

• Non-offensive deterrent for antipiracy, trafficking and fishery protection operations • Illuminating and noise making rounds • Compact, reliable & effective • Low acquisition and throughlife costs • Consultancy, training and installation services available

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Wallop Defence Systems countermeasures enable commanders to comprehensively safeguard airborne and naval platforms from Wallop has a 50-year pedigree of ground-breaking advances in airborne and naval systems.

missile attack.

confined to relatively small decoy rocket systems in the range of 35mm to 80mm calibre, for reasons associated with the physical characteristics of millimetric chaff.

The required characteristics of millimetric chaff payloads are known and practical methods of manufacturing such payloads for both ASPC and naval use have been investigated and are available.

Wallop Defence Systems, Delivering Technically Advanced Countermeasures‌ As part of Esterline Defense Technologies, Wallop Defence Systems is a world leading manufacturer of advanced Dual-band Spectral Flares and traditional MTV infrared countermeasures. They have invested heavily in Research and Development and are at the forefront of design and development of infrared flares and chaff cartridges to counter the threat posed by air-to-air and ground-to-air IR & RF guided missiles.

Providing unrivalled protection for helicopter, transport and fighter aircraft, the Wallop range of innovative expendable IR decoys is compatible with most countermeasure dispensers.

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Wallop’s new state of the art manufacturing facilities provide unrivalled standards of consistency that in turn provide the highest levels of product reliability and performance.

In these uncertain times, the ability to safeguard your aircraft and naval vessels against increasingly sophisticated threats is ever more critical. Wallop Defence Systems countermeasures enable commanders to comprehensively safeguard airborne and naval platforms from missile attack, secure in the knowledge that the survivability of their assets and their crews will be significantly enhanced by the sophisticated layered protection that modern countermeasures provide.

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

The Nightmare of a Complex Asymmetric Threat Environment

Anti-Piracy & Protect your Trafficking assets in hostile Deterrent conditions

Mary Dub, Staff Writer “One of the trends that I’m seeing that keeps me awake, is the use of a lot of low-tech

A new 57mm launching countermeasures • Airborne system with developed in illuminating partnership and noise-making payloads to with the UK MoD provide commercial shipping • Deployed on UK and NATO with effective deterrent platforms around the world against piracy.

Alsoin for designed • Efficiencies effective for anti-smuggling, optimum through-life value drug trafficking and fishery Rigidly controlled production • protection processes operations.

weapons. Anyone can buy a high-tech, laser range finder and night-vision or low-light thermal-vision hardware on the Internet for $10,000—and some of these insurgents have deep pockets. When they couple high-tech sensors with low-tech weapons, they can phenomenally increase their effectiveness. It’s a real challenge for us, as an industry, to deal with those threats.” Michael Maas, former BAE Systems’ Chief Technical Officer for Survivability and Protection solutions.

T

he countermeasure industr y specialists who provide the survivability and protection solutions for the armed forces are caught in a double bind. For the countermeasures to work they need to be secret and constantly changing to meet the future challenges of a vigorous and intelligent opponent. However, they need to produce and market a product that claims to deliver certainty of efficacy to convince the user, the pilot in the armed forces and his commanding officer, that the counter measure will deliver protection from missile attack. There is also the deterrent effect of countermeasures, by which in asymmetric warfare an impecunious opponent might not choose to risk the cost of an expensive Surface to Air Missile (SAM) on a rotor or fixed wing craft fitted with countermeasures on the likely assumption that it would be wasted and not hit its target and deliver the media reporting and acclaim intended by the attack.

How Serious is the Current Threat of Attack to Military and Commercial Aircraft?

In a report for RAND published in 2005 1, commissioned in the aftermath of 9/11 and the on-going war in Afghanistan, the researchers stated the risk in this way: “Terrorist threats, by their very nature, are difficult to evaluate precisely.

Enemy groups are constantly mutating, seeking to master novel capabilities, recruiting new foot soldiers, shifting locations, changing leaders, plotting different attacks. Under pressure from United States and allied security agencies,

al Qaeda and related organizations may lose capacity in one dimension but gain in another. Factors such as these make it difficult to predict terrorist attacks with any specificity. However, it seems prudent for decision makers… to regard the probability of an event as high when those who would perpetrate it have, at once, the motive, means, and opportunity to carry out the act.”

However, their report did not advise US commercial airliners to install countermeasures against MANPADS (Man-portable airdefense systems). But in the military sphere there is very widespread use of countermeasures indeed, by the United States and NATO armed forces and there is a growing global market for these systems in the BRIC countries of Brazil, India and China for both their airborne and naval forces.

Triton Delivering Proven Performance • Layered deterrent against piracy for commercial fleet operators • Non-offensive deterrent for antipiracy, trafficking and fishery protection operations • Illuminating and noise making rounds • Compact, reliable & effective • Low acquisition and throughlife costs • Consultancy, training and installation services available

What is the Availability of MANPADS? The RAND report estimated that Al Qaeda and many other hostile groups have MANPADS, and that around 700,000 have been produced since the 1970s. Indeed, the United States and other countries provided MANPADS to mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan during the 1980s, along with hands-on training to ensure that they could be used effectively. Many thousands of MANPADS, including some Stingers2 sent to Afghanistan, are described as unaccounted for worldwide. During the recent U.S. operations in Afghanistan, Russian SA-7s and British Blowpipes were recovered from Taliban caves in Afghanistan. SA-7s and other Russian-made

www.wallopdefence.com

Proven platform protection for an uncertain world

www.wallopdefence.com

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

in the military sphere there is very widespread use of countermeasures indeed, by the United States and NATO armed forces and there is a growing global market for these systems in the BRIC countries of Brazil, India and China for both their airborne and naval forces.

Wallop’s UK facilities are on the leading edge of design, development and manufacture of countermeasure products for military application.

models can be purchased in arms bazaars in a number of Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. In some of these markets, such systems are sold for as little as $5,000.

Al Qaeda in particular has at least firstgeneration MANPADS, and has the ability to move them about internationally. They categorise the MANPADS available on the black and gray markets in the Middle East into 4 different generations3: 1st gen infrared – Reticle Scan, SA–7 2nd gen infrared – Conical scan SA–14, SA–16, Basic Stinger 3rd gen infrared – Pseudo imaging, SA–18 CG – Command guided, Blowpipe

How do Countermeasures Deal with these Varying Levels of Threat to Aircraft?

There are three important categories of countermeasures to deal with these mounting threat levels to airborne craft: flares, laser jammers, and high-energy lasers (HELs). The first two intend to confuse the IR seeker of an infrared missile, while the HEL aims to destroy the missile, regardless of how it is guided.

Flares are a very important and effective way of dealing with missile threats. Conventional flares were initially fielded to counter first

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and second-generation passive IR missiles employing so-called seeker reticles. These are spoke-like masks that rotate in the seeker’s optical field of view and permit homing on the target. Conventional flares are intended to produce an IR signature so large that the target signature is overwhelmed, and the seeker locks onto the flare instead of the target.

Flares are used pre-emptively or reactively once the aircraft senses it is under attack.

However, as is the nature of countermeasures, some 2nd and 3rd generation missiles are not deterred by these flares.

Seekers on some second and third-generation IR SAMs are able to discriminate flares from the target aircraft. This is due to the free-fall flight profile of the flare or its spatial extent, spectral properties, or intensity profile. For example, modern two-color seeker missiles can discriminate between conventional flares and aircraft based on their spectral signatures. That means the missile is programmed to discriminate between relative signal strength in different wave bands, or colors. The ratios of intensities across different bands are indicative of temperature, and some flares are hotter than aircraft engines. Advanced flares can counter this discriminant because they consist of a range of different types of flares, each peaking in a different waveband, such that the combined signature matches that of the aircraft.

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

21st Century Warfare and Airborne and Naval Countermeasures

Anti-Piracy & Technically Trafficking advanced Deterrent countermeasures

Don McBarnet, Staff Writer

A

irborne and naval countermeasures like chaff and flares have been in development in the United States, Britain and Germany since the 1930s. During the Second World War, the idea of ‘window’ or chaff was developed in parallel with the highly secret work on radar. In early 1942 Joan Curran, a woman researcher, worked on an idea first promulgated by R V Jones and suggested that dumping light airborne strips of aluminium from aircraft would generate a cloud of false echoes. This innovation was held back from use in combat with the Germans in the fear that the system would be used against British radar and therefore blind what was then one of the most effective new technologies available to the Allies. Since the Second World War, chaff, flares and other countermeasures have been in continual development and use by armed forces.

NATO’S Current Maritime Countermeasures One of the many maritime decoy counter measures used is the SeaGnat made by Chemring. This can include Mk214 Seduction Chaff, Mk216 Distraction Chaff, Mk245 “GIANT” IR Rounds, and Mk251 Active Decoy Rounds. The rounds are launched as decoys to trick incoming missiles into missing the ship or to prematurely detonating. The decoy works in three phases.

First, a rocket motor projects it away from the ship, second, a parachute slows its descent, and finally a parasail wing slows its approach to the water. However, since the Falklands War 30 years ago, the role of the navy and the purpose of maritime defence have changed. As Dr Lee Willetts of the Royal United Services Institute, RUSI, in the UK notes, the contribution of navies to global security is under scrutiny.4 And as Rear Admiral Michael Mahon notes, we must place our highest priority on the capabilities required to deter and defeat the irregular warfare threats we face today.5 And the greatest 21st century threat is in the Pacific and off the Somali coast where a

combination of other factors, specifically space and time, make naval operations challenging.

Naval operations have to cover a sizeable area, which includes a large part of Somalia’s 2,300 nautical mile coastline. At the same time, navies have to respond to sudden attacks that last about twenty to thirty minutes. Once pirates are in control of the vessel and have hostages, stopping the pirates becomes more dangerous. The number of vessels, some 20,000, passing through the Gulf of Aden every year adds complexity to the scale of the problem.6

The Importance of Layered Maritime Defence As the Wallop Barricade and SuperBarricade Systems demonstrate, the most effective defence from modern anti-ship missiles must be layered, because the modern anti-ship missile is fast, deadly accurate, and can be launched from the air, surface or sub-surface and guided by radar, infra-red or electro-optical homing devices. As Wallop notes, the attack profile can be seaskimming or high diving, remaining undetected until close into its selected target. To counter this threat, Wallop provides the British MOD with advanced dual-band spectral flares and traditional MTV infrared countermeasures.

Layered Defence for MEDEVAC Helicopters Layered defence is also a critical part of the protection system for MEDEVAC helicopters.

The laser is part of the Advanced Threat Infra Red Counter Measures (ATIRCM) package, which is part of the protection system for rotarywing aircraft including Chinooks operating in the combat theater. The first CH-47D, newly modified with a laser defense system, was saved during an attack by multiple infrared-guided missiles, said U.S. Army officials in 2010. “We had a success in a complex situation where a Chinook was engaged by multiple IR MANPADS” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ray Pickering, product manager for infrared countermeasures (IRCM)7. Because

A launching year57mm pedigree in advanced • 50new system with illuminating and chaff and IR expendable noise-making payloads countermeasures systemsto provide commercial shipping • Protection from increasing with effective deterrent MANPADS threat against defence Also for Airborne • Layeredpiracy. effective for anti-smuggling, & Naval Platforms drug trafficking and fishery shelf & tailored solutions • Off the protection operations. including deployment on FSU platforms

Triton

Innovative Solutions • Layered deterrent against piracy for commercial fleet operators • Non-offensive deterrent for antipiracy, trafficking and fishery protection operations • Illuminating and noise making rounds • Compact, reliable & effective • Low acquisition and throughlife costs • Consultancy, training and installation services available

Proven platform protection for an www.wallopdefence.com uncertain world

www.wallopdefence.com

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

The most effective defence from modern anti-ship missiles must be layered, because the modern anti-ship missile is fast, deadly accurate, and can be launched from the air, surface or sub-surface and guided by radar, infra-red or electroThe modern anti-ship missile is fast, deadly accurate, and can be launched from the air,

optical homing devices.

surface or sub-surface and guided by radar, infra-red or electro-optical homing devices.

of the high impact in the media of downing a helicopter, the U.S. Army’s CH-47D/F Chinook is seen as a high value target.

Going Beyond Layered Defence to Technology Convergence While protecting helicopters will always be of primary importance, so is the protection of fixed wing aircraft. However, helicopters because of their utility and value in counter insurgency warfare are a very high priority. The CMWS (Common Missile Warning System) is one layer of protection, but as Michael Maas, BAE Systems chief technical officer for electronic warfare, BAE points out, there is a trend towards technology convergence that

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is driving the integration of many types of sensor data. At the same time, it is creating the need for advanced algorithms and massive processing power to make it all work together. “If you provide the pilot and co-pilot with missile, laser, small-arms and radar warning – all as separate alerts – it could be too distracting,” according to Michael Maas “Say there is a laser range finder and a radar that is associated with single weapon – a missile or an anti-aircraft gun. You want a single display that says, ‘It’s a ZSU and actively shooting at us using a laser range finder. If you have door gunners you can give them clues and they can make the decision to fire or you can provide the information to an attack helicopter.”

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Key Features of Countermeasures and Lessons Learned on Operation

Airborne Countermeasures Complete suite of MTV and Dual Spectral IR decoys to protect your platforms from heat seeking missiles, from the earliest MANPADS to the latest heat discriminating missiles.

Meredith Llewellyn, Lead Contributor

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he market for airborne and naval countermeasures is both innovative and vigorous. There is a place for many different types of countermeasure, and even long established flares have a place. American researchers argue that the key advantages of flares are that they are widely available, they are fairly robust against even large salvos of older IR SAMs (which are the most highly proliferated), and they can be deployed based on detection of missile launch alone, not requiring sensors for tracking. However, there are operational limitations on their use. Since there is risk that some conventional flares could cause ground fires, if released below about 1,000 feet, missile-warning system (MWS) used in conjunction with flares must generate few false alarms or the flares need to be used above 1,000ft.

Image seeking missiles, fielded by technologically advanced countries are unlikely to be deterred by flares. Flares are also ineffective against existing laser beam riders, which home in on a laser spot placed on the target by the SAM operator. SAMs that are radio-frequency (RF) command-guided (CG), and others like Blowpipe9, are also largely immune to flares. The operation of CG missiles is somewhat harder to employ effectively, since it requires users to keep the missile on an optical track between themselves and the target.

The company Ordtec10, which manufactures Magnesium-Teflon (MT) or Magnesium-TeflonViton (MTV) decoy flares, also notes limitations to its products where their efficiency diminishes while operating at high altitudes and at high cruising speeds. Furthermore, their ability to deceive modern advanced seekers, especially those operating on image processing, is said to be extremely limited.

MTV & Dual Spectral Flares

High Safety and Environmental Costs for Processing MT and MTV Flares While the value of MT or MTV decoy flares on operation is recognised, their manufacture generates environmental and safety concerns according to the Strategic and Environmental Research and Development Program of the Department of Defense. This is due to the use of large quantities of acetone and hexane, a hazardous air pollutant (HAP), in the manufacturing process. When significant amounts of these flammable solvents vaporize into the atmosphere, they pose environmental, personnel health and safety hazards. The production of MTV/MTH flares is said to have resulted in numerous events involving personnel injury and death. Although manufacturing processes have improved, batch processes use transfers of large quantities of highly flammable solvents from one container to another. So risks of accidental ignitions can be high, and eliminating these risks has been shown to be both difficult and expensive.11

• Suitable for fast jets, transport aircraft and helicopters • Available ‘off the shelf’ or tailored to customers’ requirements • Developed in partnership with the UK MoD • Deployed worldwide including UK and NATO platforms • Unique safety and arming mechanisms for improved safety to aircrews and platforms • Can be used with most leading dispensers • Compatible with FSU platforms

The Advantages of Laser Jammers It is extremely difficult to make an assessment without classified information on the exact properties of different types of jammer.

However, the reports for Congress and the Department of Defense in the United States have the appearance of veracity.12 They say that laser jammers are the most advanced form of directed infrared countermeasure (IRCM/ DIRCM). They are most effective against first and second-generation MANPADS. They aim to overwhelm the signal produced in the enemy missile’s seeker by the target, and then to substitute a specially modulated signal transmitted by the laser. The result is to divert the missile. The laser jammer signal must emit

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

While the value of MT or MTV decoy flares on operation is recognised, their manufacture generates environmental and safety concerns according to the Strategic and Environmental Research and Development

Wallop Defence Systems is a world leading manufacturer of advanced dual-band spectral flares and traditional MTV infra-red countermeasures.

Program of the Department of Defense.

at the colour the missile seeker expects to see, and be pointed with sufficient accuracy to enter the missile seeker optic. To achieve this it needs a high jammer-to-target ratio. Since the range of threats includes a variety of potential colors, a multiband laser or group of lasers is required for full protection. Laser spectra can be very narrow, but to block counter measures the DIRCM laser needs to have a relatively broad spectrum.

Some DIRCMs employ optically pumped oscillators to jam the threat bands producing a broader spectrum.

The Limitations of Laser Beam Jammers Laser beam jammers have limitations in effectiveness, like flares. They don’t work against laser beam riders (for which they can only furnish a beacon), RF (Radio Frequency) CG (Command Guided) missiles, and future imaging IR seekers.

High Energy Lasers (HEL) What is seen as more effective are High Energy Lasers, like Northrop Grumman’s ground-based mobile tactical high-energy laser (MTHEL).

HELs are seen as the current and future answer 14 | www.defenceindustryreports.com

by being able to down artillery, rockets, some cruise missiles, and hostile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, even if they live up to expectations they too have weaknesses.

HELS cannot work in all weather conditions, and, importantly, they cannot work in conditions where some MANPADS are able to do so.

Looking to the future Northrop Grumman has the Robust Electric Laser Initiative (RELI).

The RELI program seeks to increase system efficiency to greater than 30 per cent while generating good beam quality and a power level of 25 kilowatts (kW) that is capable of being scaled to 100kW, all of which could be packaged on a military platform. According to the Defense Department, solid-state laser systems currently are about 20 per cent efficient, “RELI is a natural follow-on for the next generation of military laser technology from the Joint High Power Solid State Laser program we completed successfully in early 2009,” said Steve Hixson, vice president of Advanced Concepts – Space and Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Under RELI, we believe the Defense Department will extend the opportunities for electric lasers for military missions.”13

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

Converging on the Future Mary Dub, Editor

Airborne Countermeasures

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oday’s market for airborne and naval countermeasures is multi-layered. The NATO countries market is limited by European economies austerity measures; however the high technology nature of counter measures and their high importance to protect men and materiel means that there will always be an interest in newly patented technologies and new ways of bringing together familiar methods in new synergies generated by data processing and the right algorithm. The market in BRIC countries is far more vigorous, with interest in maritime projects in Brazil to guard its long coastline and a desire in India to defend its recently updated armed forces.

DARPA Leads on New Technology Ideas that Work – First HALTT In her 2011 submission to the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities of the United States House of Representatives, Dr. Regina E. Dugan,14 Director of DARPA, (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), outlined recently introduced programs to protect helicopters and land vehicles against the most common recent threats in Afghanistan.

85% of hostile fire engagements with helicopters and land vehicles in 2010 were small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The new HALTT (helicopter alert and threat termination) system provides advanced acoustic detection and data processing to detect the supersonic shock wave produced by a bullet in flight or to detect the presence and direction of incoming hostile small arms fire against helicopters.

The system was installed on an Army UH-60 L Blackhawk helicopter, with four more to be installed in 2012.

Patent Applications to Secure the Future Still only at the patent stage are lists of other improvements to known technologies that may or may not deliver the promised effectiveness on operation. For example, the abstract for direct generation semiconductor infrared countermeasure lasers15 may show promise.

They say the independently modulated lasers can be combined so as to provide a

Comprehensive range of technically advanced chaff products to enhance the survivability of your platforms and aircrews from RADAR guided missile attack.

Chaff

Wallop flares being dispensed from an RAF helicopter.

• Outstanding defence against

simultaneously generated multi-spectral output for the beam. The countermeasure system is smaller and more lightweight than conventional IRCM laser systems, is less expensive, is non-cryogenically cooled and is configurable for multi-spectral generation with asynchronous jam codes in which the spectral distribution can be customized by combining multiple emitters with a range of center wavelengths. Whether this or other patented ideas will survive the testing and manufacturing process is unknown, but the process is a hope for the future.

RADAR guided missiles • Suitable for fast jets, transport aircraft and helicopters • Available ‘off the shelf’ or tailored to customers’ requirements • Deployed worldwide including UK and NATO platforms • Deployed on UK and NATO platforms around the world • Can be used with most leading dispensers • 26mm and 50mm products compatible with FSU platforms

Testing, Testing…

Measuring effectiveness is a challenge for any defence ministry wishing not to be left behind in the race for the latest technology, but at the same time not wanting to buy an unknown quantity. Because of the high cost of testing countermeasures on operation, the British Defence Evaluation and Research Agency16, in Farnborough, has developed a rig for assessing capabilities of new systems. Both reticle based and advanced imaging IR seekers missiles can be tested against countermeasures.

DERA’s rigs have the ability to be used both on an optical bench to conduct open loop experiments and to be installed in a Five Axis Motion Simulator to conduct closed loop dynamic simulations. Environments involving multiple point source IR jammers and flares, hot spatial countermeasures and wellstructured targets can all be created. This allows assessment of individual countermeasure specifications and the synergistic use of

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SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

The market in BRIC countries is far more vigorous, with interest in maritime projects in Brazil to guard its long coastline and a desire in India to defend its recently updated armed forces.

different types of countermeasure. A high spatial resolution thermal picture synthesizer has been developed, which is capable of achieving a temperature of 50°C. Specialist engineers at DERA are currently installing the synthesizer into the simulation rigs.

Tested and on Operation A system that passed DERA’s assessment tests is the BAe Systems’ Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System (HIDAS)17. Given the limited number of aircrew manning modern flight decks, and the high workload over the modern battlefield, detecting missile launch and countering are becoming increasingly automatic. BAe Systems’ HIDAS is designed to detect, identify, prioritise and counter threats to platforms such as the Apache helicopter without the need for crew intervention. It uses spectral threat warning sensors to produce a comprehensive tactical picture.

The British MOD owns and manages the DIRCM contract, currently valued at over $400m, to develop, produce, install, field and sustain around 131 DIRCM systems on the UK fixed and rotary-wing fleet, and 59 systems on the USAF AC/MCÐ130 fleet. The system they have chosen is the Northrop Grumman

16 | www.defenceindustryreports.com

AN/AAQ-24 (V) NEMESIS. This involves the fitment of four electro-optic infrared sensors on each aircraft, or two on a helicopter. When the NEMESIS system detects a hostile missile launch, it tracks its flight, warns the aircrew and then directs a missile thwarting laser beam from a turret. As the incoming seeker head runs into an emission of infrared energy, the missile loses its lock on the target, veers off its course and is destroyed.

Flares Provide Vital Secondary Back Up As DIRCM cannot cover all the airspace around an aircraft, pyrotechnic decoy flares are employed. DIRCM takes around 10 seconds to deflect a SAM, whereas IRCM decoy flares offer immediate protection and are important to counter any rapid second firing. Flares are fitted as the primary means of countering MANPADS on fast jets, many helicopters and transports. With the advent of the new dual band spectral flares produced by Wallop Defence Systems, protection can now be achieved against both legacy and new generation IR guided missiles. Their decoy flares burn for only four seconds and leave no ground residue but are deemed to be highly effective.

SPECIAL REPORT: NEXT GENERATION AIR AND NAVAL COUNTERMEASURES

References: 1

RAND Corporation: Protecting Commercial Aviation against the Shoulder Fired Missile Threat James Chow, James Chiesa, Paul Dreyer, Mel Eisman and others (published 2005) The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM), which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters

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(as an AAM), developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the United States and by 29 other countries. It is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems and under license by EADS in Germany, with 70,000 missiles produced. It is classified as a Man-Portable AirDefense System (MANPADS).

Figure 2.1 RAND Corporation: Protecting Commercial Aviation against the Shoulder Fired Missile Threat James Chow, James Chiesa, Paul Dreyer, Mel

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Eisman and others (published 2005) http://www.rusi.org/analysis/commentary/ref:C4B7C13DD39AA8#.UGcT5o6hDlI Shaping the international maritime discourse: the Royal Navy’s role RUSI

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Analysis, 17 Feb 2010 By Dr Lee Willett, Senior Research Fellow, Maritime Studies Role of current and future navy US Navy Surface Warfare: Future Requirements and Capabilities by Rear Admiral Michael Mahon. Michael Mahon is the

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deputy for surface warfare on the staff of the US Chief of Naval Operations. Here he describes the New Maritime Strategy for the US Navy, the US Marine Corps and the US Coast Guard, and explains how the US is structuring its maritime forces for today and tomorrow.

Somali Piracy Q&A RUSI Analysis, 3 Jun 2009 By Bjoern Seibert, Associate Fellow Why are there still attacks ongoing despite the international

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naval presence?

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Laser Saves Helo In Multi-SAM Ambush Posted by David A. Fulghum 2:30 PM on Jan 07, 2010

http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3af8a5f906-7506-4cfd-adeb-f00659a5806a

Posted by David A. Fulghum 12:36 PM on Jan 13, 2010 Figure 2.1 RAND Corporation: Protecting Commercial Aviation against the Shoulder Fired Missile Threat James Chow, James Chiesa, Paul Dreyer, Mel

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Eisman and others (published 2005) 9

The Shorts Blowpipe is a man-portable surface-to-air missile (MANPADS), which was in use with the British Army and Royal Marines from 1975. It was superseded by an interim design, Javelin, and later the greatly improved Starstreak missile. It is said to have been sold to the Afghan mujahedeen

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ORDTEC http://www.ordtech-industries.com/Exports_End_User.html

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http://www.serdp.org/About-SERDP-and-ESTCP/SERDP-ESTCP-Office

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Figure 2.1 RAND Corporation: Protecting Commercial Aviation against the Shoulder Fired Missile Threat James Chow, James Chiesa, Paul Dreyer, Mel Eisman and others (published 2005)

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Northrop Grumman website http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html? d=202483

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DARPA 2011 HALTT IMPLEMENTATION Statement by Dr. Regina E. Dugan, Director Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Submitted to the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities United States House of Representatives

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Inventors: Christopher J. Chao (South Pasadena, CA, US) IPC8 Class: AH04K300FI

Class name: Optical communications interference signal transmission or elimination (e.g., jamming or antijamming) Publication date: 2012-08-23 Patent application number: 20120213513 http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20120213513#b#ixzz288YmsFOy 16

DERA PAPER Hardware in the loop simulation for IR countermeasures assessment

Barry Gamble, John G. Philip, Melvyn D. Sedgbeer Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Farnborough, UK

TESTING IRCM COUNTER MEASURES The MANPAD missile threat Andrew Brookes, Aerospace Analyst, International Institute for Strategic Studies, examines the threat of ground to air missiles

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and possible countermeasures http://www.defencemanagement.com/article.asp?id=175&content_name=Modernising%20Defence&article=4254

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