RAF pilots are on the brink of receiving cutting-edge air protection with a laser self-protection system, after successful trials proved its capability to defend against missile threats.
The system was tested in Sweden, achieving a 100% success rate in intercepting multiple infrared heat-seeking missiles.
A new air protection laser defeated 100% of threats during recent live-fire trials. It’s been designed to fit a range of RAF aircraft and can rapidly detect and defeat incoming missiles.
The system has been developed by @Leonardo_UK @ThalesUK and @dstlmod pic.twitter.com/5pUT0jCeAR
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 20, 2024
The air protection laser is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and industry partners Leonardo UK and Thales UK, known collectively as Team Pellonia. The system will be fitted to RAF aircraft like the Shadow R2 and A400M transporter, enabling them to swiftly identify and neutralise missile threats.
During the live-fire trial at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden, the system intercepted and defeated multiple missile targets with pinpoint accuracy. The success of the trials demonstrates the capability of Thales’s Elix-IR threat warning system and Leonardo’s Miysis directed infrared countermeasure to provide state-of-the-art protection for UK forces.
Defence Secretary John Healey spoke of the importance of advanced defence technology: “Identifying, tracking and defeating threats from the air in seconds is crucial to having the edge over those who try to do us harm. We’re equipping our Armed Forces with the very latest technology to keep them safe and give them the advantage on operations.”
Mark Elson, Chief for Air Survivability at Dstl, also highlighted the importance of innovation and collaboration: “The UK defensive aids system is the culmination of MOD’s detailed understanding of changing threats alongside years of sustained defence investment in science and technology nurtured within Dstl. This has been aligned with the development capabilities of our commercial partners through Team Pellonia.”
The system uses advanced algorithms to filter out background noise, detecting only valid threats, which are then neutralised by the laser with precision targeting. Senior military officials from NATO countries observed the trials.
Leonardo’s Senior Vice-President of Radar and Advanced Targeting, Mark Stead, remarked: “Miysis DIRCM has again proven itself as a reliable, effective protection system and is flying operationally on many platforms today.”
Stephen McCann, Managing Director of Thales Optronics & Missile Electronics UK, also expressed pride in the technology’s performance, stating: “Elix-IR has proved its world leading capabilities as the latest generation multi-function infrared threat warning system.”
The system will support around 1,950 jobs across Scotland.
Sounds like a great piece of kit 😏 I guess other nations will be wanting this Tec ,and the unfriendly .
This shows the difference between a real Air Force and a collection of old planes. It’s easy to look at airforces like china and Russia and compare them with ours on numbers but the reality is the things like defensive aids are likely to give us massive kill ratio advantages. Any aircraft that’s not the latest upgraded 4.5 gen or 5th gen will be little good for anything except catching bullets.
Laser dazzle tech isn’t particularly secret. DIRCM is a Leonardo (UK) piece of tech, but other manufacturers will have something available too.
Guessing a big piece of kit considering its for Shadow R2 and A400M transporter
Leonardo claim otherwise, saying it’s small and suitable for helicopters. Everything is relative, of course. From a picture in an article, I’d eyeball it to fit in a metre-long pod.
Isn’t that square thing the mounting?
In that case it looks like it just attaches to the side or underside panels of the plane and works from there.
As it’s a permanent measure, no need to carry on a hard point.
You’ll either be able the have it in the pod shown in the bottom photo of the Aviationist article, or build it into the structure. I don’t know if the grey square in the top photo is a typical operational mounting. I wonder if it’s part of a test rig.
The square doesn’t look like a ground rig, too self contained and the motion mounting plate doesn’t look specially designed for the purpose.
That sort of rig might work well for large or slow things like A400 or helicopters.
Haven’t had a look at your article yet, will check back.
Why haven’t we heard about this before?
A great development, I can’t think of any other countries developing something similar.
Now but loads and stick them on every plane we have.
I often wonder just what we have up our sleeves that is not acknowledged, until it is needed.
I hope some of the vast defence budget we have has gone into such things, especially in the offensive cyber area.
Hi Daniele, yes thinking just the same. Hopefully there’s much more tech developments that are kept until they are needed. Always best to give the impression that we are a bit slow. Then any foes get a shock slap in the face when things kick off!
Cheers
George
Hi mate. I may have said it before. But its amazing what kit suddenly becomes available when needs must. We have many capabilities and kit that is pretty hush hush.
Afternoon mate.
I quite believe it.
Like truck launched ASRAAM and Brimestone missiles in Ukraine.
Stormshadow deployed in the gulf several years before it was suppose to be finished.
Interestingly when French Rafales fought against Egyptian SU 35’s the SU35’s were unable to lock on to them when the French had their defensive aid system on. I would imagine much the same in any combat situation with the latest western aircraft against Russian and Chinese aircraft. They probably don’t realise just how far behind they are. We saw some other spooky parallels when Panzir air defence missile were unable to lock on to a storm shadow they were pointing right at. Just look at the vast cost of maintenance and upgrades for typhoon and F35 and the Russian’s spend… Read more »
Israel can “turn off” opponents AD stuff to I believe?
Yes AESA radars can upload code through a radar receiver to carry out a cyber attack and interfere with the communications of an air defence network and that’s just the stuff we know of.
Some very clever people. I have read the odd piece in the past that suggested this or that ‘breakthrough’ only for the matter to go quiet … Good. Thousands of C.C.P. STEM students in Blighty’s universities is a bit of a worry however.
Because we’re mugs? I have read of trials years ago of some sort of “lens” attached to vehicles on SPTA which replicate the terrain beyond the vehicle, as to make the subject “invisible” I don’t think I’m explaining the tech properly but also seen it on Twitter for applications to smaller objects and people. What happened to that tech? I’d read that sort of stuff goes all the way back to using light bulbs along the wing leading edges of ASW planes in WW2 so the U Boats had less time to dive. I believe there is a White world… Read more »
👍
I don’t think any of our Uni’s are involved in anything so useful.
Any, Jim? Their are Universities and there are Universities.
Thousands of C.C.P. STEM students in Blighty’s universities will not get placement opportunities due to failing the security requirements to be UK born and so UK nationals.
Mysis was launched in 2013, but the general DIRCM tech has been around since the 1990’s. It’s not particularly secret. If we on the outside didn’t know about it, it’s probably because we can’t pay attention to everything. There’s just too much to know.
I suggest theaviationist.com /2021/10/25/miysis-dircm
as a good source with background, including the progress up to 2021 on the project to deploy it on the Shadows. It doesn’t mention A400M so that’s probably new.
Good work, though thinking works best on clear days. Still worth having particularly in sunny climates.
It is infrared so weather should not be a big factor.
IR is affected by weeather.
Jim Basic Physics infra red detection works on the detection of a heat source. A big claggy, cold wet cloud pretty well takes care of that and the IR sensor loses its lock.
Same applies to Naval warships a ship produces large amounts of heat, which is why a lot of effort goes into cooling the IR signature down. It’s why the German K135 Class don’t have a conventional funnel, but the exhaust is right down near the waterline.
Awesome bit of kit, I wonder how many targets it can handle at once?
Slightly confused here. “Miysis DIRCM has again proven itself as a reliable, effective protection system and is flying operationally on many platforms today.” now this suggests the laser system at least is already in use on aircraft so how does that work without the detection system or is it working with a different one? Elix-IR is also stated by Thales to be operating widely on aircraft. So that being the case, is the point in the article the fact the combination of the two is new and thus gives a new level of defensive performance? Or is it fundamentally an… Read more »
Maybe Leonardo have already tested it themselves but this is the first by the RAF?
Nobody claimed it was a first. Surely the point of the article is that RAF is testing them for use on RAF planes.
Is this technology linked in anyway to the Dragonfire and ground, vehice, and ship based systems? It sounds like it’d be very effective against missiles and drones in a shorad configuration?
This is dazzle tech and works alongside flares as a countermeasure. It doesn’t shoot missiles down like Dragonfire as much as confuse their infrared sensors so they get lost. It’s probably only effective against active IR seekers, so certain classes of air-to-air missiles and MANPADS. I works at about the order of 1kW. For comparison, Dragonfire works at about 50kW and I think the full power on Raytheon’s laser system on the Wolfhounds is 15kW.
It’s possible Dragonfire also has a dazzle mode, but I haven’t heard of it.
Probably not that effective then as most missiles these days are multi mode. Good against manpads and the like though, so probably great for things like the a400m if it needs to combat land.
Most AAMs or SAMs don’t seem to have multi-mode seekers yet, so this ought to have a decent effectiveness.
I agree that its main purpose would seem to be protecting Atlas, Shadow and other manned planes that operate in conflict areas from MANPADS when at low altitude.
Even if it’s multi mode the defence system will be jamming radar and pumping out chaff and flairs at the same time but as you say air to air and surface to air weapons are not multi mode because they need to be light weight.
Almost no surface to air missiles or air launched are multi mode. Yiu thinking about ground attack. None of ours are multi mode.
active IR seekers? my understanding was that all IR missiles relied on passive detection
I may be wrong on the active point. I just asked myself how can the laser home in on the missile sensors if they are not active? I’m no expert and simply may not have thought it through. Later, when I have more time, I may read up on Thales Elix-IR (the sensor that cues DIRCM in the current tests) to see if it can do anything clever in that area.
No it’s a dazzler not a hard kill.
If you are right in that second point, I wonder who else already uses it, be it this or a previous version of the technology. Certainly plenty in it that likes to give the impression that this is a new product or capability by use of careful (or otherwise simply lazy) language without as you say being clear when you analyse it carefully, whether it is just new to the RAF. Your first point shows you aren’t clear on that issue either. Either way it would be nice to know clearly which it is, so as to be better informed… Read more »
If you are talking about Misys, Canada for sure and “an unnamed Middle Eastern country”. Canada is on the P-3 Orions and it’s been speculated the other use is on some executive jet.
I put another link earlier in the thread which said it was debuted with Hensholt trackers and that the Thales link-up came later.
(I deleted that first point because subsequent reading means I am sure now.)
Very interesting bit of kit and I dare say it can be fitted to the Voyagers and C17 as well, it’s certainly a step up from flares and decoys. The only thing I don’t like is the title of the article, which I’m surprised at because a lot of UKDJ article’s get picked up by the tabloids much to their credit.
Shouldn’t it be New or Newest not News ? And I’d have described it’s an Aircraft Air Self Defence system rather than Air Defence.
I agree mate, Though I initially read the article as meaning our planes had a self defence laser that shoots down incoming, like Dragonfire, not a dazzler type as Jon has now explained.
Now that would be fun, wouldn’t it? Plane CIWS? Count me in, but I am sure that sort of thing is under development for GCAP.
You wouldn’t even have to do that much damage as the vital seeker and electronics are all in the nose.
The system will support around 1,950 jobs across Scotland.
Indeed, good news.
A confusingly written article.
This isn’t a laser that will be destroying missiles and neither defeats radar guided missiles, this is to confuse IR seeking missiles.
Sounds remarkably good. Other applications? Can it be utilised on ships, smaller craft like LCUs/ LCVPs or other riverine type craft?
Has it also got another application for vehicles?
This is interesting, it does tie in with a paper I read that small single seat fighters are coming to the end of their usefulness with a number of developments. Essentially BVR, off bore sight shooting, drones, lasers and networking all mean that where as once agility, speed and energy management was the key to winning, in the future it will be the number of resources in :human brains, computing power, sensors, power-output, munitions and drones and that in the future it would be the large very aware aircraft with lots of resources that would win the fight..not a small… Read more »