Elbit’s Air Protection: Keeping You Safe

Heat-seeking missiles such as shoulder launched MANPADs remain a major threat to aerial platforms like helicopters, dozens of aircraft around the world have been hit by shoulder launched missiles causing hundreds of deaths since the 1970s.

Hostile forces also continue to acquire relatively cheap but deadly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have proliferated across battlefields.

The distribution of shoulder-fired missiles and drones across the globe is extensive, and these weapons, that are in the inventory of regular military forces, have also found their way into the hands of many organizations, such as drug cartels, criminal networks and terror groups, that pose a threat with such capabilities.

MANPADS and drones are not the only threats against aerial platforms heading into complex and dense threat environments. Several aircraft losses were caused also by radar-based and laser-based threats.

“There is no main threat, threats always change and what makes us unique is that we provide a modular solution to a variety of threats. We strive to constantly update our solutions against the main families of threats so that aircrew return to base safely,” said Asher, Senior Director, CTO & Business Development, Airborne EW & IR Business Line in Elbit Systems ISTAR & EW – ELISRA.

As enemy forces continue to acquire sophisticated technology, aerial platforms must have a suitable self-protection suite for threat detection and effective countermeasures. To increase survivability, platforms must be able to automatically and autonomously detect threats, identify them and react with as short of a response time as possible – all while allowing the aircrew to continue with their mission.

As one of the pioneers in the field of Electronic Warfare (EW), Elbit Systems develops, manufactures, and supplies comprehensive solutions in the electromagnetic spectrum, including complete EW Suites, Spectrum Control, Communications and Signal Intelligence.

Elbit is a source of EW suites for the Israel Air Force and for many other Air Forces around the world ‒ integrating Radar Warning Receivers (RWR), Laser Warning Systems (LWS), IR Missile Warning Systems (MWS), Electronic Countermeasures (ECM), Countermeasure Dispensing System (CMDS), and Directed IR Countermeasures (DIRCM), and providing a unified and modular EW self-protection suite.

This unified open architecture EW suite incorporates operationally proven capabilities such as multi-function, multi-mission capabilities and re-programming tools that help to shorten re-programming, the sensor-to-shooter loop and boost mission execution for aircrew and platform survivability. 

Elbit’s EW systems provide platform protection and aircrew survivability against advanced threats and are installed on over 30 types of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft of both Western and Eastern origin and deployed in numerous countries across five continents.  Customers have complete independence, being able to create their own threat libraries and update them as they see fit.

“Modularity and flexibility means that a system that is good for an environment like Eastern Europe, where there is a dense threat environment, is also good for border protection against smuggling and drug cartels by using light turboprop aircraft where they may be targeted by hostile fire,” Yoel Vice President Business Development & Marketing ISTAR and EW Division-ELISRA explained, and in all cases, “we aim to ensure that we bring the aircrew home safely.”

Having the tactical and strategic advantage over the enemy is essential in any mission and our advanced EW suites were developed for exactly that. Not only do they detect sophisticated enemy radars, but they also suppress tracking, targeting and radars while simultaneously handling imminent threats targeting the platform.

“Going back historically, some pilots did not have any protection system and there were also individual systems to handle each type of threat. Still today there are companies that deliver separate systems and sensors that handle different threats, and that means extra weight and extra life cycle costs,” said Yoel.

“As computing power has improved, we have compressed three or four main processors into a single processor and that is our All-in-Small™ product,” Yoel added, explaining that the All-in-Small includes a single processor that incorporates the Radar Warning Receiver, Laser Warning System, Missile Warning System, and Counter-Measure Dispensing System (CMDS).

Elbit Systems’ Airborne Protection Suites include the following solutions:

• The ALL-In-SMALL™ next generation unified and modular EW self-protection suite for airborne platforms. This suite, in one single LRU, includes an EW suite Controller (EWC), Digital Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), IR Missile Warning System (MWS), Laser Warning System (LWS), Chaff Flare Dispensing System (CFD), Counter Measure Dispenser System (CMDS), and the mini-Music DIRCM System.

These components can operate individually or in concert to provide wide platform protection and enhance aircrew survivability against advanced threats. The threat is then handled by the CMDS and/or DIRCM that is cued by the EW Controller.

The modular All-In-Small has an open architecture and has growth capabilities to include drone detection and warning systems, as well as a personal recovery device, detection and geo-location of pilots.

Because of its capabilities and modularity, the All-in-Small has been placed on commercial aircraft, helicopters, light attack aircraft, fighter and transport aircraft. “There is no limitation to the All-in-Small,” Yoel said. “The system can be placed on any platform, that’s the beauty of it.”

• MUSIC™ family of Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) for protection against heat-seeking air to surface missiles include:
• The mini-Music, a compact and advanced system with a powerful laser for small to medium helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. The compact, lightweight system has a powerful fiber laser for efficient operation and a thermal camera for accurate acquisition and tracking.
• J-Music facilitates effective, reliable, protection for medium and large jet aircraft against missile threats by integrating advanced laser technology along with a high frame-rate thermal camera and a small dynamic high-speed sealed-mirror turret.
• C-MUSIC provides powerful DIRCM protection against MANPADS for large jet aircraft. It is Civil Aviation Authority certified, laser-based, fully automatic and autonomous system that provides large jet aircraft with comprehensive protection against advanced heat-seeking ground-to-air missiles.
• The SPEAR™ product family is based on advanced hardware, including Digital Receiver and Exciters, which are modular and provide ease of scalability. The SPEAR family includes Digital Self Protection RF Jammer, Digital Radar Warning Receiver), and Electronic Support Measures capabilities. The advanced technology meets platform Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) constraints and is a good solution for transport aircraft, fighter aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial systems.

• SPEAR™ AECM Pod Self-Protection & Electronic Attack (EA) solution that is part of the SPEAR family for aircraft defense with powerful modular self-protection, EA and reconnaissance capabilities for transport and fighter aircraft.
• Light SPEAR™ for installation on medium-large sized helicopters and UAVs.

• Micro SPEAR™ – is a compact Electronic Warfare (EW) system for Electronic Attack (EA), Self-Protection (SP) and Electronic Support (ES). Due to its relatively low SWaP requirements, the system is matchedfor small and micro platforms, without decreasing mission capabilities or flight duration.

• Nano SPEAR™ expendable RF decoy designed as a countermeasure to RF-guided air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles and other threats. Complementing the existing EW Suite capabilities, this ultra-smart decoy deceptively lures away hostile radar guided missiles.

Through the use of the SPEAR product family, Asher explained, the user has access to a variety of ECM/RF Jamming techniques to suppress enemy radar threats.

“We can insert multiple aircraft into the enemy radar instead of just one aircraft so that the enemy does not know which is the real one and which is a false target. The person tracking on a radar sees multiple incoming aircraft and does not know which one to lock onto and fire the missile.”

With our EW suites onboard, pilots can pay full attention to the mission even if they are flying in densely hostile environments.

According to Yoel, “our solutions can deal with RF based threats, IR threats, laser threats – within one single system that will handle the multiple categories of threats in the threat environment, identify them with the sensor and handle them with Chaff and Flare or DIRCM to help prevent them from being lethal.”

Our airborne self-protection suites offer a defensive shield that not only protects the platform and crew, but it gives forces an important advantage in a variety of complex operational scenarios.