India Seeks DIRCM Partners To Protect Aircraft From Missiles

[dee]

NEW DELHI - India is looking for overseas partners to jointly develop a laser-based directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) system to protect aircraft against ground-launched infrared guided missiles.

The DIRCM will be jointly produced with India's state-owned Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), based in Bangalore.

Global tenders for the multimillion-dollar contract have been sent to defense companies in Europe, Israel, Russia and the United States, said a senior official of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which controls the DARE laboratory.

The DIRCM self-protection suite is a laser-based directed infrared countermeasure system for protecting aircraft and helicopters against shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles known as MANPADS.

The Indian Air Force re-evaluated the threat from such missiles after the Kargil battle in 1999 when two of its aircraft, a MiG-21 and a MiG-27, and an attack helicopter were hit by MANPADS, Air Force sources said.

The service wants systems with jamming capabilities as part of the defense against such missiles Air Force sources said all the aircraft will be equipped with advanced DIRCM systems while the helicopters are equipped with protection against infrared-seeking air-to-air missiles.

A DARE official said a missile warning system would cue DIRCM, which then would turn toward the approaching threat and direct its laser beam toward the missile's seeker to disrupt its guidance system and break its lock on the aircraft.

India wants the DIRCM to be able to counter current-generation MANPADS, a senior Defence Ministry official said. The system should be able to defeat a missile fired from below the aircraft and should be effective at altitudes of at least 15,000 feet.

Though the current tender is mainly for Air Force aircraft, helicopter protection is also vital, the Defence Ministry official said.

DARE and EADS Defense Electronics are jointly developing a missile warning system for the homegrown Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter. The system, based on EADS' MILDS AN/AAR-60 warning sensor, will be integrated into the Dhruv's existing multisensor warning system, the DARE official added.

The missile warning system will detect and track the ultraviolet emissions of approaching missiles, including heat-seeking, shoulder-launched missiles, the most prevalent threat.


India Seeks DIRCM Partners To Protect Aircraft From Missiles - Defense News

 

[!!craft!!]

good news!! i guess we will be having Israel as partners in this project too

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

I am hearing first time about this system...can anyone share more info about the system?

 

[AbuSalam]

I am hearing first time about this system...can anyone share more info about the system?

 

[beckham]

The best choice would be to join Israeli MUSIC (Multi Spectral Infrared Countermeasure) program !

 

[SpArK]

complicated pic.. very hard to understand.. so self delete

 

[SpArK]

Multi-Spectral Counter MANPADS System (MUSIC&#174

Providing superior protection against multiple threats to all fixed and rotary-wing airborne platforms, MUSIC® is a highly effective Directed Infrared Countermeasure system (DIRCM). MUSIC® integrates our advanced fiber laser and FLIR technologies to generate a high-power multi-spectral jamming signal to counter shoulder fired surface-to-air IR missiles (MANPADS).

MUSIC® delivers the following advantages:
§ Compact system - low drag, light weight, high reliability
§ Efficient operation
§ Can be installed on all types of aircraft without degrading aircraft performance
§ Counters multiple threats

MUSIC® consists of the following components:
§ MWS – Missile Warning System (IR, UV or radar) that indicates that a missile has been fired
§ Laser – generates a jamming beam with the necessary wavelengths to counter surface-to-air missiles
§ FLIR – thermal camera for acquisition and tracking of missiles
§ High Speed Turret – enables accurate tracking of missile seeker
§ System Processor – controls and coordinates all MUSIC elements.

 

[gowthamraj]

I did't understand anything

 

[SpArK]

I did't understand anything

Its a cartoon.Very funny one.. u need to travel back in time and has to be in schools to understand it.



...







Summa vilayatta sonnae... just kidding.

 

[beckham]

I did't understand anything

Becoz, Its not at all related to a DIRCM system !

The picture seems to be a schematic illustration of 2 different remote sensing technologies.

 

[SpArK]

Becoz, Its not at all related to a DIRCM system !

The picture seems to be a schematic illustration of 2 different remote sensing technologies.

So you didnt understand it either.!!!

poor souls!!! LOL

 

[beckham]

So you didnt understand it either.!!!

poor souls!!! LOL

Anyone who has ever been to high school can guess its an optical imaging system.The depiction of the satellites, AVIRIS,cross track & multi spectral scanners,HSI etc... suggests its some sort of remote sensing system than any countermeasure system !!

 

[Gene]

how the infrared countermeasure works???? how can it deviate a missile from it's target??

 

[Devianz]

how the infrared countermeasure works???? how can it deviate a missile from it's target??

Infrared seekers are designed to track a strong source of infrared radiation (usually a jet engine in modern military aircraft). IRCM systems are based on modulated source of infrared radiation with a higher intensity than the target. When this modulated radiation(jamming signal) is seen by a missile seeker, it overwhelms the modulated signal from the aircraft(IR from heat source) and provides incorrect steering cues to the missile. The missile will begin to deviate (wobble) from the target, rapidly breaking lock. Once an infrared seeker breaks lock (they typically have a field of view of 1 - 2 degrees), they rarely reacquire the target.

Jammers blind the missile to the target aircraft by bathing the seeker head with intense infrared radiation that washes out the aircraft’s own signature. The comparison of the jamming energy to the aircraft’s energy is commonly expressed as the J-to-S ratio. J is the strength of the jamming signal and S is the strength of an aircraft’s signature. Directed beams can have a J-to-S ratio of between 2:1 and 50:1, while lasers can be 300 to 2,000 times more powerful than their host aircraft’s signature.

 

[Dark Angel]

Early deployment of a system called Flight Guard aboard civilian jet liners came following a November 2002 incident in which shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) were launched unsuccessfully at an Arkia plane in Mombasa, Kenya. That FlightGuard system is a civilian version of IAI/Elta’s popular ELM 2160, and costs about $1 million per plane for sensors and flares. The flares were the sticking point. Even though they were redesigned to be larger (to divert from larger targets), burn for a shorter time (to minimize ground hazard), and almost invisible to human eyes (to prevent panics), many locations were leery about allowing a flare-dispensing system near civilian airports.

In contrast, Elbit Subsidiary El-Op’s MUSIC (Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasures) system takes the DIRCM (Directed Infrared Counter-Measures) approach – a wise decision given civilian concerns, and key military trends. Now, the firm has its first large civilian order…

MUSIC is actually more like a symphony. A missile approach warning system (MAWS, using radar plus infrared or ultraviolet to reduce false positives) detects approaching missiles, then an advanced FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) system tracks it and guides the high-speed turret as it automatically slews and fires a human-safe laser beam at the missile. The laser’s pulses blind the missile’s sensors, either confusing the seeker away from the plane or simply overloading its sensors and turning it into a rocket. It’s a very big sky; an unguided rocket is going to miss an aircraft as it takes evasive action because the pilots received their warning from the MAWS.

Older MANPADS like the common SAM-7 Strela produced under license by Iran rely on infrared detection of an aircraft’s exhaust plume. This makes their effectiveness questionable against military jets, who are almost always in a ‘tail chase’ position when lock is achieved and can put on a burst of speed to cruise out of its range. Large civilian jets with bright exhaust plumes and slow acceleration are another matter, of course, though the Mombasa incident proved that even civilian aircraft are hardly sitting ducks. Both flares and DIRCM systems will be effective against such threats.