RAF Tornado successfully trials BriteCloud protection system

[Lyneham Lad]

On Flight Global Electronic chaff for the GR4 (https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/raf-tornado-successfully-trials-britecloud-protectio-423614/?cmpid=NLC%7CFGFG%7CFGFIN-2016-0405-GLOB&sfid=70120000000taAh)- & rather more effective than the original...

Snip (click the above link for the full article) Finmeccanica is hopeful that the Royal Air Force will be the launch customer for its BriteCloud active decoy, following the completion of a series of tests of the system onboard the service’s Panavia Tornado GR4 combat aircraft.

Initial evaluation testing was carried out in the USA at dedicated radio-frequency (RF) facilities in October, the first test of the expendable active decoy from the Tornado.

“Now that we've done successful tests on the Tornado we're working hard towards securing our first order for operational deployment,” Jon McCullagh, campaign manager for electronic warfare at Finmeccanica Airborne and Space Systems, tells Flightglobal.

“We're in talks with the UK and are hoping that [it] will be the first nation to carry the BriteCloud into operations.”

A bit of background info. (https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/selex-aces-active-decoy-test-with-britecloud-398478/)

Any money left in the budget for such additions, I wonder?

[glad rag]

Surely the first few that are recovered will provide a fertile ground for reverse engineering?

[Buster Hyman]

Brite Cloud? That's another name for Chem Trails innit....

[Out Of Trim]

Surely the first few that are recovered will provide a fertile ground for reverse engineering?

I was thinking the same.. Unless, they self-destruct - in 30 seconds!

[tartare]

...and chaff, flares couldn't be reverse engineered?

[Ivan Rogov]

Tartare, ISTR that the RAF bombers didn't use chaff for a while in WW2 because we were worried it would be copied and used against us at a time when we couldn't counter it.
In the modern world I doubt the tech in this is beyond what other countries could produce, they just haven't, if they got one it would still take plenty of time and effort to prototype and productionise it, and a huge amount of time testing it to make it work for them.
I guess it is a balancing act of effectiveness of existing counter measures v's emerging threats, I doubt a doppler zero cloud of chaff works against any modern threat system.

[peter we]

It requires room temperature super conductors, don't know how difficult that would be to copy.

[Pontius Navigator]

IR, old fashioned chaff may be filtered out from a modern radar processor but any chaff still blocks radar pulses, blocks them outbound and again blocks skin paints returning through the cloud.

If chaff is sown as a curtain and kept sown then it will work as an effective block at a given frequency radar. What then becomes important is that the radar system is aware of the chaff degradation.

In the self-defence role then static chaff may be processed out effectively but you should never ignore curtain or confusion chaff.

[Courtney Mil]

Here's the answer. They all get destroyed before they hit the ground.

This video also shows a secret stealth aircraft being targeted with ease :eek: and demonstrates the 100% success rate of BriteCloud. :ok:

S_AQk4nYJF8

[Basil]

Yes, as you imply, that's the latest MRDA system :rolleyes:

[ORAC]

https://www.janes.com/article/85668/britecloud-decoy-set-for-typhoon-integration

BriteCloud decoy set for Typhoon integration

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is introducing the Leonardo BriteCloud expendable active decoy (EAD) into service on its Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 fleet, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract notice has revealed.

This follows the introduction to service last year of the 55 mm diameter BriteCloud radio frequency (RF) countermeasures device on the Tornado GR4 to meet an urgent capability requirement (UCR).

Developed by the UK arm of Leonardo Electronics, BriteCloud is a second-generation expendable digital radio frequency memory (DFRM) jammer designed to provide fast jet aircraft with effective 'end game' protection against advanced RF-guided missile threats and/or tracking radars.

[pr00ne]

But....
It clearly didn't work, EVERY single one of those BriteCloud Active RF thingies was completely destroyed...

Seriously, neat looking bit of kit and quite a capability.

[BEagle]

:rolleyes:

pr00ne , your post reminds me of a signal allegedly sent between the ship drivers of a couple of HM's war canoes during a Sea Wolf (I think it was) trial. The idea was that the missile was supposed to be effective against small, fast targets - so it was thought that a standard naval shell could be used as a suitable target.

So BANG went the gun, whereupon the Sea Wolf system acquired, tracked, launched and zapped the shell almost before it had left the barrel.

"Looks like we got your rocket!", signalled the driver of the ship which had fired the shell...;)

[Evalu8ter]

As the Expendable Active Decoy (EAD) this was part of our portfolio of DAS Technology Demonstration Programmes (TDPs) at DE&S/Dstl a few years back. IIRC, Typhoon was the original target aircraft, but the GR4 UCR saw it pushed that way at the LRIP stage. Capable little badger it is too. Good news that a TDP has actually been "pulled through" to the FL rather than becoming "shelf ware" - congrats to all involved in DE&S, Air Cmd and Leonardo at CG. There is something of a renaissance occurring about RF EW; the military have "smelt the coffee" and industry is responding. Interesting times….

[pr00ne]

BEagle,

;)

Like it.

[Mogwi]

Duties of a No2:

Stick
Search
Report
Suck up the missile

I guess these little puppies are cheaper though.

mog