File image.
American warplanes taking part in the ongoing war on Iran are now using the advanced AN/ALE-50 towed decoy system to dodge anti-aircraft missiles, which highlights the growing threat posed by the Islamic Republic air defenses.
The AN/ALE-50 was developed by Raytheon to protect against radar-guided anti-aircraft missiles, launched from surface or air.
The system consists of a launcher and launch controller installed on the warplane — usually on a wing pylon —, with one or more expendable towed decoys. Each decoy is delivered in a sealed canister.
Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Army)
One such decoy — nicknamed by American military pilots “Little Buddy” — was found on March 24 in the southeastern Iraqi governorate of Maysan, which is located right on the border with Iran.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
Click to see full-size image. (X)
When a radar-guided anti-aircraft missile is detected, the decoy is launched and towed behind the aircraft using a specialized cable that provides both power and a datalink.
The decoy receives signals from the missile via the warplane’s electronic warfare systems, amplifies them, and sends them back to create a false target that is more prominent than the warplane’s own radar signature, often using techniques like noise, digital radio frequency memory (DRFM), or Range gate pull-off (RGPO).
Click to see full-size image. (Topwar.ru/Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade)
The AN/ALE-50 is mainly used on U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps warplanes. The system is known to be compatible with fighter jets like the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, as well as with B-1B Lancer strategic bombers.
The system has also been integrated into the AN/ALQ-184(V)9 electronic countermeasure pod, creating an integrated threat-protection system capable of being carried on a large number of platforms.
Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Army)
The decoy found in Iraq was likely deployed by a warplane that came under attack while returning from a mission over Iran.
The use of the AN/ALE-50 indicates that U.S. military planners are growing wary from the threat posed by Iranian air defenses, despite repeated claims by senior Pentagon officials that aerial dominance had been established over the Islamic Republic.
Of course, this is not surprising as just last week an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet of the U.S. Air Force made a “hard landing” at an undisclosed American air base in the Middle East after getting hit by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile that caused damage and even wounded the pilot.
The U.S. Central Command acknowledged the incident, and later reports revealed that the fighter jet, which costs more than $100 million, won’t be returning to service anytime soon.
Since that incident, Israel has reported that one of its fighter jets came close to getting hit over Iran, and the Islamic Republic reported more successful engagements
There is not doubt that Iran is successfully restoring its air defenses, and as the war drags on, both the U.S. and Israel will likely take more aerial losses.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
for all of dads and moms that love to stay home to take care of their loved ones, or rest of people on the search for an opportunity to pull in some extra income for their family month after month let me share a remarkable opportunity to explore.
here →→→→→ https://psee.io/8jqu9r
they expelled the iranian ambassador from lebanon. i’m not surprised at all, considering the fact that h t s will one day attack lebanon. then christian lebanese women will also stand under the lights in tir ana and anka ra.
it’s definitely a problem when you have someone like putler as an ally. the good thing about all of this is that newsom will definitely win the 2028 election and then bomb the traitorous alawites and russians in their pussia
israelis should condemn netanyahu for high treason for allowing trump to exploit israel for his economic war against chinese industry. first it was necessary to cut off venezuela, and now iran and saudi arabia. and israel is collapsing for trump’s interests.
rt and margarita simnoyan are on the same level as al jazeera and its journalist constance marten. in any case, iran is being attacked only because putin betrayed syria, and the alawites obeyed him. the only woman who should be sterilized is constance marten, because what she did to her daughter victoria is truly monstrous. as for alawite women, it might not be a bad idea to sterilize them, because they would be protected from kidnapping and unwanted pregnancies.
either way, bill gates’ greatest benefit would be to sterilize all alawite women. at these people would never remember to obey someone like putler again. all their problems caused by the traitors putler and the ass would be solved within the next hundred years. nothing like that could happen again. https://hawarnews.com/ar/139102 and never again could someone deceive them the way putler did. certainly, sterilizing all alawite women would be the best solution.
use should condemn trump for letting netanyahu exploit america for israel war against iran and lebanon how much you paid to post that garbage
that decoys were useless in 3 f-15
we’re bombing iran at will…they’ve been abandoned by their “great allies” russia and china…heheheh
the lebanese national news agency reported that the ministry of foreign affairs and emigrants summoned the iranian chargé d’affaires in lebanon, tawfiq samadi khoshkho, where secretary-general ambassador abdul sattar issa informed him of the lebanese state’s decision to withdraw its approval of the iranian ambassador-designate, mohammad reza sheibani, and declare him persona non grata.
https://hawarnews.com/ar/139180