Contributor - UK

David Donald

Leonardo’s BriteCloud 218 expendable active decoy (EAD) has won clearance from the U.S. Air Force’s Seek Eagle Office (AFSEO)—the service’s Eglin-based center of excellence for store/platform compatibility—for operational testing on the Lockheed Martin F-16. The U.S. Air National Guard will conduct a&nbsp;series of validation flight tests this year, bringing an end to the Department of Defense’s Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) program for the product.
The end-result of the FCT is the clearance of BriteCloud 218 for off-the-shelf procurement by U.S. forces. However, the EAD is also receiving considerable interest from international air arms, particularly those that operate the F-16, and there are a number of opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Building on its extensive experience in radio frequency countermeasures, Leonardo has devised the BriteCloud as a countermeasure that is fired from standard chaff/flare dispensers. The initial version has a cylinder with a diameter of 55 millimeters&nbsp;to match European dispensers, and first became operational on the Tornado fighter-bombers—and subsequently Typhoons—of the Royal Air Force. The BriteCloud 55-T, with more powerful jamming capability, has been developed to protect large aircraft with higher radar signatures.
BriteCloud 218 is smaller dimensionally, packaged into a rectangular-section cartridge measuring 2-by-1-by-8 inches, sized to fit U.S. dispensers such as the ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System fitted to the F-16 and many other types. BriteCloud 218 first underwent testing on a Danish F-16, and in 2021 was successfully trialed aboard a German remotely-piloted aerial target system. If acquired by the U.S. Air Force, the BriteCloud 218 could augment and possibly supersede the ALE-50 towed radar decoy.
Fired in the same manner as an infrared decoy flare, BriteCloud houses a powerful miniature jammer that emits “electronic ghost” signals to lure incoming radar-guided missiles away from the launch aircraft, causing them to detonate at a safe distance from the intended target. It incorporates Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology that tailors the jamming signals to specific threat radars and works&nbsp;against all current threat types.
Fired from existing countermeasure systems, the BriteCloud requires no alteration to the airframe, or expensive integration, and so represents a cost-effective way of providing high-end protection for a range of platforms, including special-mission platforms, unmanned air vehicles, transports, and helicopters.

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