Leonardo debuts drone-mounted jammer to bamboozle air threats

ROME — Aircraft and missiles heading into hostile territory will soon be relying on drone-mounted jammers flying ahead of them to bamboozle and block air defenses if a new British-built jammer takes off.

In sharp contrast to stand-off jammers, which are placed on large aircraft out of harm’s way and take out enemy radars from long distance, Leonardo is launching a new “stand-in” jammer it claims will be small enough to fit on a drone and cheap enough to be expendable.

The BriteStorm, which the firm is showing off at the AUSA convention in Washington, will weigh about 2.5kg and occupy the space of six Coke cans, including transmit and receive modules and antenna, Leonardo managers have said.

“It can be at the leading edge of any forces going into an enemy area,” said Michael Lea, VP Sales Electronic Warfare, Leonardo UK.

Designed to be sufficiently affordable to be expendable, the package will fit on large quad-copters or winged UAVs heading into the battlespace, Lea said.

“It is priced in a way it can be treated as an attritable asset so it wont break the bank or cause a major strategic issue if shot down,” he said.

After receiving an enemy radar signal, the system uses Leonardo’s Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology to digitally capture the signal, process it and respond by jamming the radar with electronic noise or spoofing it, which could involve creating dozens of “ghost” fighter jet signatures.

It is the same DRFM technology Leonardo has used on its BriteCloud - an expendable countermeasure designed to be released from aircraft to disrupt incoming missiles’ radar guidance systems.

The BriteStorm uses up to three transmit-receive modules, which cover low, mid, and high wavebands.

After development at Leonardo’s Luton facility in the UK, the system has been test flown by the Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office.

Leonardo believes the BriteStorm is a step beyond the Raytheon MALD, or Miniature Air-Launched Decoy, an air launched, expendable jamming missile which has reportedly been used in Ukraine.

It also beats a stand-off jammer, said Lea. “A stand off jammer’s position in the sky is predictable whereas a stand-in jammer operates closer to threats, has more maneuverability and more axes on which it can confuse and suppress the threat,” he said.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——如果英国制造的新型干扰机起飞，飞往敌方领土的飞机和导弹很快就要依靠无人机搭载的干扰机在前面飞行，以迷惑和阻挡防空系统。

与安装在远离危险的大型飞机上并从远距离摧毁敌方雷达的远程干扰器截然不同，莱昂纳多公司推出了一种新型的“替代型”干扰器，该公司声称这种干扰器体积足够小，可以安装在无人机上，而且价格足够便宜，可以作为消耗品。

莱昂纳多公司经理表示，该公司在华盛顿举行的美国宇航局协会（AUSA）大会上展示的 BriteStorm 卫星，重量约为 2.5 公斤，体积相当于六个可乐罐，其中包括发射和接收模块以及天线。

“它可以处于进入敌方区域的任何部队的最前沿，”英国莱昂纳多公司电子战销售副总裁迈克尔·利亚说道。

Lea表示，该套件的设计价格足够低廉，可以作为消耗品使用，它将安装在大型四旋翼飞行器或带翼无人机上，投入战场使用。

他说：“它的定价方式使其可以被视为一种可消耗资产，因此即使被击落，也不会造成财政崩溃或重大战略问题。”

该系统在接收到敌方雷达信号后，利用莱昂纳多公司的数字射频存储器（DRFM）技术以数字方式捕获该信号，对其进行处理，并通过电子噪声干扰雷达或欺骗雷达来做出响应，这可能涉及创建数十个“幽灵”战斗机信号。

这与莱昂纳多公司在其 BriteCloud 系统中使用的 DRFM 技术相同——BriteCloud 是一种一次性对抗措施，旨在从飞机上释放，以干扰来袭导弹的雷达制导系统。

BriteStorm 最多可使用三个收发模块，分别覆盖低波段、中波段和高波段。

该系统在英国莱昂纳多公司位于卢顿的工厂完成研发后，已由英国皇家空军快速能力办公室进行了试飞。

莱昂纳多认为，BriteStorm 导弹比雷神公司的 MALD（微型空射诱饵导弹）更胜一筹。MALD 是一种空射型一次性干扰导弹，据报道曾在乌克兰使用过。

利亚表示，这种干扰机也优于远程干扰机。“远程干扰机的空中位置是可以预测的，而近距离干扰机则更靠近威胁目标，具有更高的机动性，并且可以从更多方向干扰和压制威胁，”他说。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。