BAE Systems has been selected by the U.S. Navy to develop the Dual Band Decoy (DBD), a state-of-the-art radio frequency (RF) countermeasure designed to protect fighter jets from enemy attacks, according to a press release.
The DBD is an advanced RF self-protection jammer that expands on the capabilities of BAE Systems’ AN/ALE-55 Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy.
The system comprises a towed unit connected to the aircraft’s electronic warfare equipment via a fibre-optic cable to disrupt enemy radars and mislead missiles. The decoy can be deployed by the pilot or automatically in response to threats, offering crucial protection in highly contested airspaces.
“With Dual Band Decoy, we are building on the ALE-55’s years of mission success as a high-powered jamming system,” said Don Davidson, director of the Advanced Compact Electronic Warfare Solutions product line at BAE Systems, in the press release.
“Dual Band Decoy delivers broad capability that can be installed on a variety of aircraft and is upgradeable to address future threats.”
Initially, the Dual Band Decoy will be deployed on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. The development and production of the DBD will be conducted at BAE Systems’ advanced facilities in Nashua, New Hampshire.
