The Air Force has awarded a $49 million contract to Raytheon to begin engineering and manufacturing development of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy stand-in jammer variant, known as MALD-J. The Air Force already has contracted Raytheon for low-rate initial production for the first two lots of the basic MALD and plans an as-yet unspecified mix of 3,000 of the two systems. In a May 6 company release, Scott Muse, MALD program manager, said, “During EMD, Raytheon will put MALD-J through an aggressive series of free-flight and captive-carry tests.” MALD-J had its first free flight in December 2009, after completing successfully all its test events. USAF’s MALD program manager, Ken Watson, said, “In executing the MALD-J program, Raytheon has been ahead of schedule and under budget for 39 months in a row.” USAF expects MALD-J to reduce the need for manned stand-in jamming aircraft. (For more on MALD programs, read Time to be Fooled)
USAF Scoping Out Upgrades to Counter-UAS Weapons
Oct. 19, 2020
The Air Force is in the market for upgrades to its counter-drone technologies, according to an Oct. 16 request for information posted on a federal contracting website. The service is in the early stages of deploying lasers, microwaves, and other weapons more advanced than a shotgun to deal with potentially…