Wed, Mar 18, 2009
MALD Mimics Characteristics Of Allied Aircraft
The US Air Force accepted delivery recently of Raytheon's first
Miniature Air Launched Decoy low rate initial production unit.
"The warfighter now has an incredible new capability thanks to
the hard work of hundreds of Raytheon employees, suppliers,
dedicated Air Force civil servants, uniformed service members and
support personnel," said Ken Watson, the US Air Force's MALD
program manager. "MALD will work in concert with other electronic
warfare assets as part of a system of systems to shape the
electronic warfare battlespace and ensure our aviators and their
coalition partners return home safely to their loved ones."
MALD protects aircrews and their aircraft by duplicating the
combat flight profiles and signatures of US and allied aircraft.
MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is
modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300
pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (about
575 statute miles).
"With this first delivery under our belts, Raytheon is on track
to meet the US Air Force's required asset availability date of
March 2010," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems vice
president of Air Warfare Systems. "We're committed to on-time
delivery, since the warfighter is counting on us to provide them
with the flexibility and capability inherent in MALD."
More than 125 Raytheon employees design and build the MALD and
MALD-J in Tucson, AZ; Goleta, CA; and El Segundo, CA.
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