PDA

View Full Version : AMERICA’S SECRET WEAPON TO ENGAGE AIR DEFENSES ISN’T A WEAPON AT ALL



tn1911
08-20-22, 11:46
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/adm-160-mald-americas-secret-weapon-to-engage-air-defenses-isnt-a-weapon-at-all/

The ADM-160 MALD, or Miniature Air-Launched Decoy, is exactly what its name suggests: a small vehicle that’s launched by aircraft, like a cruise missile, that can mimic the radar returns of any American aircraft in service.

The nine-foot-long, 300-pound MALD manages this feat via a Signature Augmentation Subsystem (SAS), which leverages active radar enhancers that broadcast across a wide range of frequencies to fool defensive radar systems into mistaking the missile-shaped MALD for jets ranging from the original gangster of stealth, the F-117 Nighthawk, all the way up to massive payload-ferrying bombers like the B-52.

FromMyColdDeadHand
08-22-22, 10:29
I saw that article. You a fan of RealClear?

Was this the one that the A-10 can carry like 16 of, or was that some stand-off munition?

tn1911
08-22-22, 15:42
I saw that article. You a fan of RealClear?

Was this the one that the A-10 can carry like 16 of, or was that some stand-off munition?

These are pretty big, 10 feet long and a thousand pounds each.

Diamondback
08-22-22, 16:13
Looks like a spiritual successor to the ADM-20 Quail decoy drone B-52s carried--eight of those plus two Hound Dog ALCM's meant you had a two-in-ten Multiple Choice scenario picking targets to avoid the Hound Dogs ramming 1.45MT each up your snotlocker.

20 years ago I had written a white-paper advocating outfitting these drones with sensor and designator gear so that a BUFF or Bone could launch them to be forward "eyes and ears" while its operator called in missile launches from the mothership and other "spear carrier" bombers hanging back from the threats, much like how an F-35 can call in Aegis launches today.