ALE-55 Towed Fighter Decoys for US Navy, Australia

29 Juli 2011

AN/ALE-55 (photo : BAE System)

First full-rate production order, for USA and Australia.

The AN/ALE-55 (V)is a related system made by BAE, consisting of an electronic frequency converter (EFC) and a fiber optic towed decoy (FOTD). It works together with an aircraft’s onboard electronic warfare (EW) equipment, throughout the entire ECM cycle of Suppression (harder to acquire or track the towing plane), Deception (active jamming techniques aimed at enemy launchers); and Seduction (active jamming aimed at the missile, and being a decoying target itself if all else fails).

ALE-55 concept (photo : Defense Industry Daily)

The ALE-55 was introduced after Raytheon’s similar ALE-50 towed decoy, but it is carving out a parallel market share, and has been ordered by the USA and Australia to equip F/A-18 Hornet & Super Hornet aircraft.

(Defense Industry Daily)