Wednesday, January 17, 2007
First U.S. civilian aircraft equiped with an anti-missile device
A FedEx MD-10 cargo jet equipped with a Northrop Grumman “Guardian” anti-missile system took off from Los Angeles International Airport on a commercial flight Tuesday. This marks the first time a civilian aircraft has been equipped with anti-missile technology.
I found this extremely interesting. I worked on this type of equipment in the Air Force. The B-52 is equipped with a system that is very similar to this one. It was the AN/ALQ-153 Tail Warning System and it was made by Westinghouse which is now owned by Northrop Grumman. It was an automated pulse Doppler radar system that would constantly scan the environment looking for fast moving objects approaching from below and behind. Just where a shoulder launched infrared missile would be approaching the aircraft.
If a missile was ever detected, the AN/ALQ-153 would sound an alarm and alert the aircrew as to which side of the aircraft the missile was approaching. It would also automatically dispense chaff and/or flares if that option was enabled by the EWO (Electronic Warfare Officier).
Unlike the military system, this civilian version will not dispense chaff or flares. It will emit a laser that is designed to disrupt the missile’s seeker head.
Link
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
