PARIS -- The UK Ministry of Defence has chosen Leonardo and Thales, under a single source procurement, to deliver an integrated UK Defensive Aids System (DAS) to meet an Urgent Capability Requirement.

The procurement will equip the RAF’s fleet of eight Shadow R1 intelligence-gathering aircraft, providing an advanced DAS which will protect the aircraft against latest-generation of Infra-Red (heat seeking) missiles.

Designed, developed and manufactured in the UK, the system provides a sovereign capability which will be able to evolve in anticipation of changing threats to air platforms.

The UCR will be delivered by a combined MOD/Leonardo/Thales team under a Leonardo prime systems integration contract, with the equipment being integrated onto the platform by Raytheon UK. Initial Operating Capability is targeted for early 2021. The system consists of the following subsystems:

-- Thales Elix-IR Threat Warner

-- Leonardo DAS Controller

-- Leonardo Miysis Directed Infra-Red Counter Measure (DIRCM)

-- Thales Vicon Countermeasures Dispensing System

The single source selection by the MOD follows the recent SALT III international trials hosted by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration in Sweden. There, the integrated Miysis/Elix-IR system, using a jamming waveform developed by the UK MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, proved its ability to defeat Infra-Red missiles in live fire exercises.

Source: https://www.thalesgroup.com/en