Army adapts aircraft electronic warfare (EW) missile defense to protect armored combat vehicles

WASHINGTON – As Army leaders race to modernize battlefield equipment, they are adapting electronic countermeasures used on aircraft to protect their armored combat vehicles from anti-tank missiles. Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

22 Feb. 2019 -- Technology like the BAE Systems RAVEN electronic warfare (EW) jammer could be a lot more effective than just bolting on another layer of armor on already overloaded vehicles — if the contractor can make what originally was an airborne system rugged enough to function in the mud, dust, and clutter of ground combat.

RAVEN is a “soft kill” jammer that tricks missiles into missing. It would part of a second wave of upgrades to Army vehicles, following the Israeli-made “hard kill” systems -- which physically shoot missiles out of the air -- that the service is already urgently fielding. The Army wants both types for maximum protection.

So the Army is pushing hard towards an integrated hard-and-soft-kill system. Last week, the service’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center announced that the BAE Systems RAVEN missile defense system had won a “Soft Kill Rodeo” last fall. The next step: intensive field testing on an M2 Bradley troop carrier fitted with RAVEN (soft kill) and Iron Fist (hard kill).

Related: Army looks to DRS Land Systems for active protection aboard M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks

Related: Pentagon to hike spending for armored combat vehicles procurement and research by 18.6 percent

Related: U.S. Army considers German-built armored combat vehicle, with U.S. sensors and embedded computing

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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