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Tucson AZ (SPX) Apr 11, 2008 Raytheon was awarded an $80 million U.S. Air Force contract March 31 for Phase II risk reduction of a radar-jamming variant of its Miniature Air Launched Decoy. MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs fewer than 300 pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (about 575 statute miles). The new variant, known as the MALD-J, recently completed developmental flight testing and adds radar-jamming capability to the basic MALD platform. "MALD-J is a key component in a system of systems that will fill a critical capability in the airborne electronic attack arena," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems product line. "Like the baseline MALD, the J variant is modular and designed with growth in mind." The two-year contract calls for Raytheon to further develop, integrate and test the new MALD-J variant. Raytheon will conduct free-flight testing to ensure that MALD-J's hardware and software perform under representative conditions the system would face during operational missions. The contract also calls for Raytheon to conduct a system critical design review. This sets the stage for a final system design and development that will focus on free-flight testing and, ultimately, low rate initial production, before becoming a weapon in the warfighter's arsenal. A milestone C decision -- the decision to go into production -- is expected in early 2011. The Miniature Air Launched Decoy is a low-cost, air-launched programmable craft that accurately duplicates the combat flight profiles and signatures of U.S. and allied aircraft. In addition to protecting valuable aircraft, MALD offers counter air operations to neutralize air defense systems that pose a threat to U.S. and allied pilots. It has successfully completed 35 of 37 flight tests. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links UAV News - Suppliers and Technology
First Army I-GNAT ER UAS Achieves 10,000 Flight Hours
National Harbor MD (SPX) Apr 10, 2008General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has announced that a U.S. Army UAS has reached a record 10,000 flight hours on a single aircraft. The milestone was achieved by two different Army I-GNAT ER aircraft, AI-001 and AI-1005, within days of each other while performing combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. |
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