- ALE-50 Towed Decoy System
The AN/ALE-50 Towed Decoy System is an anti-missile countermeasures decoy system used on multiple U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft, and by certain foreign air forces, too. (Such as Israeli F-16s.) The system is manufactured by
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems at its facility inGoleta, California . The ALE-50 system consists of a launcher and launch controller installed on the aircraft (usually on a wing pylon), and one or more expendable toweddecoy s. Each decoy is delivered in a sealed canister and has a ten-yearshelf life .When deployed, the decoy is towed behind the host aircraft, protecting the aircraft and its crew against RF-guided
missiles by luring the missile toward the decoy and away from the intended target. In both flight tests and actual combat, the ALE-50 has successfully countered numerous live firings of both surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. U.S. military pilots have nicknamed the decoy "Little Buddy".The ALE-50 was first deployed in
1996 on theF-16 Fighting Falcon , but is also used on theF/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the B-1B Lancer. The ALE-50 has also been integrated into the next-generation ALQ-184(V)9 ECM pod, creating an integrated threat-protection system that can be carried on a larger number of platforms.The Lot 9 production contract in April 2005 has increased the total number of decoys ordered to 22,495, with deliveries scheduled through 2007.
External links
* [http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/sas/documents/asset/ale50.pdf Raytheon product brochure]
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