Leonardo Unveils New Variant of BriteCloud Countermeasure for Military Transport Aircraft

Leonardo has unveiled the latest variant of ‘BriteCloud’ missile decoy family at the ongoing Electronic Warfare Europe 2018 conference.

The BriteCloud 55-T is able to protect large military transport aircraft such as Leonardo’s C27-J and third party platforms including the C-130, KC-390 and A400M from radar-guided missiles, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

It will join the Company’s existing BriteCloud 55 (for fighter aircraft using 55mm compatible dispensers such as the Tornado, Typhoon and Gripen) and BriteCloud 218 (for fighter aircraft equipped with square format dispensers, such as the F-15 and F-16). The company said that the missile decoy is in the final stages of development and is available to order now for deliveries in early 2019.

The original ‘BriteCloud 55’ countermeasure is designed to protect fighter aircraft and uses a miniaturised Radio-Frequency (RF) jamming module to trick incoming radar-guided missiles into missing their intended target. Leonardo has since miniaturised the technology further to create the BriteCloud 218 product for fighter jets using 2x1x8 dispensers, such as the F-16. Larger aircraft require a more powerful decoy in order to mask the larger radar return that they produce.