Navy orders AN/ALE-55 electronic warfare towed decoys

Electronic warfare (EW) experts at BAE Systems Electronic Systems in Nashua, N.H., will build 253 AN/ALE-55 fiber-optic towed decoys (FOTDs) to protect combat jets from missile attacks under a $19.7 million U.S. Navy order. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking BAE Systems to build Lot VII of the airborne countermeasure, designed to protect Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrier-based jet fighter-bombers from radar- guided missiles.