Tel Aviv: The competition in the market of protection systems against Man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS) has intensified. After Elbit Systems equipped many Israeli and foreign aircraft with the different versions of the MUSIC system against MANPADS, another Israeli company enters the market.
BIRD Aerosystems, has conducted a live firing demonstration of SPREOS DIRCM protection against diverse MANPADS, proving to defeat 100% of the missiles.
The company says that as part of the demonstration that was conducted according to a specific customer request, the company set up a complete test range that included a command & control room, a shooting post, and a simulated aircraft installed with BIRD’s AMPS-MD system including the SPREOS DIRCM.
During the demonstration, MANPADS (Man-portable air-defence systems) from different types, including the most advanced ones available today, were shot at the simulated aircraft. The AMPS detection sensors identified the missiles and alerted the MCDU mission computer, which activated the SPREOS DIRCM. SPREOS then rotated towards the threat and conducted threat confirmation & tracking followed by the deployment of the dual-band countermeasure laser, causing all missiles to miss the simulated aircraft.
Targeting the challenging scenarios of short-range shoots, BIRD’s patented SPREOS DIRCM was activated upon a pre-alarm signal, which caused the SPREOS to rotate toward the threat and activate its Semi-Active Doppler Radar to interrogate and confirm the incoming threat, ensuring a zero False Alarm Rate.
Concurrently, the Doppler Radar also provided unique information on the incoming threat such as its Radar Cross Section (RCS), Distance, and Velocity, enabling a real-time assessment of the threat’s nature and automatic calculation of the “Time-to-Impact”, a vital indication that was used by the AMPS system to ensure optimal protection tailored to defeat each specific threat that was fired on the aircraft.
Ronen Factor, co-chief executive officer of the BIRD Aerosystems said that the unique and patented concept of using a Doppler Radar to confirm and track the threat was introduced to the market by us and it has proved itself.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
