Network-Enabled MALD in the works

[popcorn]

Very nice enhancements. Presumably it has a 2-way datalink that enables it to contribute to the overall SA picture in the course of doing its EW role.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-air-fo ... 00506.html

US Air Force awards Raytheon $34 million to demonstrate advanced aerial decoy-jammer

TUCSON, Ariz., July 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Company (RTN) $34.8 million to demonstrate upgraded electronic warfare capabilities for the Miniature Air Launched Decoy-Jammer missile. Development of the new version of the MALD-J, called MALD-X, will be completed in only 24 months and will culminate in two flight demonstrations.

"MALD-X will build on the successful MALD platform to demonstrate the advanced electronic warfare capabilities needed today and in the future," said Mike Jarrett, Raytheon vice president of Air Warfare Systems. "MALD-X creates an upgrade path for the current MALD-J program of record and meets the requirements for the MALD-N, a net-enabled decoy/jammer for the U.S. Navy."

[sferrin]

They need to get MALI too.

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-160.html

"The MALI (Maniature Air-Launched Interceptor) was an armed derivative of MALD, for possible use against cruise missiles. MALI had a sharper nose profile, increased wing swep, and a more powerful (0.53 kN (120 lb) thrust) TJ-50M engine for short supersonic performance. An IIR (Imaging Infrared) seeker was used for terminal homing on the target, and mid-course guidance was via a command link to air surveillance platforms like the E-3 AWACS. The MALI has undergone a test and development program, which ended in December 2002, when the first supersonic flight was made. "

[PhillyGuy]

thinking outside the box here but it would be useful me thinks to develop a way to launch these things from submarines. pack em in a way where a useful number could be carried and launched. have it breach the surface and fly flat with the horizon for a while before picking up altitude so it does not give a ballistic indication of where it was launched and compromise the sub, and then let the enemy scratch their head and figure out how a formation of aircraft just appeared out of nowhere without any ships or other aircraft present before hand and what to do about it. for the pacific theater, but also the european theater to some extent, this would be ideal.

[popcorn]

Launching a MALD from a sub may be cool but in what context? MALDS are intended to help offensive aircraft penetrate hostile defenses. They are launched by aircraft in support of the strike package so what real value does launching from a sub provide?

[PhillyGuy]

well right now the only MALD carriers are unstealthy tactical fighters or highly visible strategic bombers and or cargo transport types like the C-130. these do not offer an element of surprise or the ability to launch such a decoy from within or behind enemy early warning networks and IADS coverage, nor do they offer the numbers that a sub might carry. and for a well prepared near peer, you might not get close enough in the first place to even launch from a non stealthy aircraft. in a theater like the pacific where normal vectors of approach are known and monitored, it would be very complimentary for a joint USAF/USN day one assault to have a capability to launch swarms of MALD decoys totally unobseved, from the sea and near enemy coastlines to simulate maybe carrier ops or a strike package, in a more dynamic and surprising way than you could via air launch.

it was just an idea anyway.

[popcorn]

I'm guessing you could dump more MALDs out of a C-17 than you could launch from a sub. Being a decoy, it's supposed to be noticed so being stealthy seems counter-intuitive. It has sufficient range to complement the strike package during ingress to the objective and it's a one-way trip.

[PhillyGuy]

Yeah probably, and in the long run there is the B-21 to act as a stealthy missile truck so it works. But you could see that there are some scenarios where you would not want to be noticed right away but at a place and time of your choosing, depending on what the objective is. Just looking up on it now, the Navy seems to be in development of its own version, and one of the enhanced features is low level flight. That should cover most aircraft types and operational profiles.

Best yet the goal should be to have the ability to both physically and electronically mimic yourself so identically to ant platform and its signals, that when you decide to flip the switch and throw on the show, it becomes impossible for an adversary to rely on their sensors and data for intelligence and command. Basically game over in this day and age with how capable and deadly the delivery platforms and weapon systems have become. 30 minutes of confusion and inactivity is all a future strategic group will need to enter and exit the interior of even a large and well defended country.

Hopefully the next generation jammer and other advances will allow for something like this to be possible.