NATO tested Elbit’s DIRCM Missile Defense System on board Airbus C295

23 November, 2015

Elbit said that MUSIC/DIRCM systems have been successfully tested by various countries and are in full scale production for numerous customers around the world

Elbit said that MUSIC/DIRCM systems have been successfully tested by various countries and are in full scale production for numerous customers around the world

Defense in action. Right: Image of target from the missile's point of view. Left: the missile wad blinded by DIRCM
Defense in action. Right: Image of target (Airbus C295 aircraft) from the missile’s point of view. Left: the missile was blinded by DIRCM

NATO completed a series of trials to validate the capabilities of Elbit’s solution for the protection of aerial platforms against infra- red, ground to air heat seeking Man-Portable Missiles. Elbit Systems announced today that its MUSIC family of Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) systems, integrated with Passive Airborne Warning System (PAWS) IR based missile warning system, were successfully demonstrated on an Airbus C295 aircraft.  

The demonstration took place in October 2015, during flight test at the NAFAG ACG3 SG/2 EMBOW 15 Trials, at the Bundeswehr WTD91 test site in Meppen, Germany. During the tests, conducted by a NATO team, a C295 aircraft with an operationally installed Elbit EW self-protection suite, consisting of the DIRCM system and the PAWS, demonstrated the capability to detect, acquire, track and jam the trial test equipment on the ground.

The initial assessment of the results highlighted that the system has the capability to successfully jam MANPADS (infra- red, ground to air heat seeking Man-Portable Missiles) from the first, second and third generation, using generic NATO jam codes. The demonstration was a joint project of Elbit Systems and Airbus Defence & Space (Spain).

Elbit's DIRCM system protecting civilian El-Al aircraft
Elbit’s DIRCM system protecting civilian El-Al aircraft

It was supported by the Israeli MoD, the Spanish Air Force and NAFAG ACG3 SG/2 (NATO Air Forces Armaments Group, Air Capability Group 3, Sub Group 2), which is the NATO group responsible for the development and validation of air platform protection solutions.

MUSIC family of DIRCM systems provides protection for aircraft from MANPADS. These systems integrate a fiber laser technology together with a high rate thermal tracking camera and a small, dynamic mirror turret to provide effective and affordable protection to all types of aircraft under all operational conditions.

The PAWS missile warning systems uses IR to detect the most advanced threats in all flight conditions. The PAWS family is in use and under contract with more than 10 customers worldwide, in a large variety of platforms, including jet fighters, and other fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.

Elbit said that MUSIC/DIRCM systems have been successfully tested by various countries and are in full scale production for customers around the world, including Germany, Italy, Brazil Israel and others. They are operational on military, VIP and commercial helicopters and other fixed-wing aircraft.

Elbit Systems is currently under contract to supply more than 110 DIRCM systems to over ten customers, for installation on 20 different fixed and rotary-wing platform types.

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Posted in: Aerospace & Defense , ElectroOptics , News

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