Raytheon’s Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer demonstrated that it could protect friendly strike aircraft during the Air Force’s first test of the stand-in jammer in a simulated operational environment, announced the company Tuesday. This flight test was MALD-J’s most rigorous and complex to date, with multiple jammers in free flight and multiple captive-carry jammers conducting electronic attack missions in a dynamic environment with a manned strike package, according to company officials. Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon’s Air Warfare Systems product line, said the test’s completion paves the way for the MALD-J functional configuration audit, where the government will validate that the system meets all requirements and performs to specifications. Finishing the audit, in turn, could lead to the Air Force, by the end of the year, authorizing Raytheon to begin MALD-J production. Raytheon also builds the baseline MALD for the Air Force.
The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness revised the Defense Department’s COVID-19 guidelines. The new rules clarify what’s meant by being “up to date” on vaccinations and when personnel must wear masks in vehicles, among other changes.