The U.S. Air Force and Raytheon [RTN] validated the performance of an upgraded navigation system for the Miniature Air Launched Decoy-Jammer (MALD-J), the company said Tuesday.
The upgrade, called GPS Aided Inertial Navigation System II (GAINS II), includes an enhanced multi-element GPS-controlled antenna assembly which improved the MALD-J navigation performance in a GPS jamming environment, Raytheon said.
Raytheon said the improvements and efficiencies in the design helped to reduce the GAINS II overall unit costs. The performance was validated in six flight tests from B-52 and F-16 aircraft at the White Sands Missile Range, NM.
The MALD is a modular, air-launched, and programmable expendable flight vehicle. It weighs under 300 pounds and has a range of about 500 nautical miles. It acts to confuse enemy air defenses by duplicating friendly aircraft flight profiles and radar signatures. The MALD-J adds radar-jamming capability while maintaining all of the other features.
Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems business unit supported the design work for GAINS II while the Missile Systems unit supplied systems engineering, integration, and testing. The company is currently producing and delivering the the MALD-J systems with the upgraded navigation, Raytheon said.
The company originally began delivering MALD-Js in mid-2012.
“Improving performance while reducing costs is a win for Raytheon and our customer,” Brian Burton, director of MALD Programs for Raytheon, said in a statement.