New missile decoy aims to protect transport planes

A decoy is only as good as its first impression. The BriteCloud is an ejectable canister designed to confuse missiles into thinking it is a plane, instead. The original BriteCloud was designed exclusively for fighter jets, and is used by the Royal Air Force onboard its Tornado strike aircraft. A decoy made to mask the appearance of a fighter will struggle to conceal a larger plane, so today BriteCloud maker Leonardo announced a new decoy for other planes that see combat: transports.

From Leonardo:

It’s built for planes including Leonardo’s C27-J, Lockheed’s C-130 series, Embraer KC-390, and the Airbus A400M, and designed specifically to thwart radar-guided missiles. Leonardo debuted the new missile decoy at the Electronic Warfare Europe conference this week in Lausanne, Switzerland. The decoys are built around Digital RF Memory, and can be reprogrammed to match threats as they emerge.

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