Raytheon’s Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer recently flew with a new datalink that permits in-flight retargeting and maneuver as part of a joint Air Force-Marine Corps demonstration, the company announced. “This flight test shows MALD-J’s ability to integrate new technology that will provide the warfighter more capabilities on the battlefield,” company vice president for air warfare systems Mike Jarrett said in a Dec. 9 release. A mothership aircraft captive-carried MALD-J during the recent test conducted as part of the service’s Weapons and Tactics Instructor exercise at MCAS Yuma, Ariz., Raytheon stated. During the exercise, MALD-J flew a radar-jamming sortie while simultaneously transmitting “situational awareness data” to an electronic warfare battle manager, who was then able to tweak the jammer’s mission assignment en-route. The MALD jammer variant is currently integrated on USAF’s B-52 and F-16 fleets.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
