NASHUA, N.H.: BAE Systems today unveiled the Boldstroke directable infrared countermeasures suite, an integrated aircraft survivability system designed to protect aircraft from infrared-guided missiles and other evolving threats.
The Boldstroke DIRCM will be publicly displayed for the first time during the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting & Symposium in Washington, D.C. October 25 – 27.
“Helicopters are essential to mission success, but aircrews and the troops they carry must contend with a growing array of threats, particularly infrared-guided missiles and hostile fire,” said Dr. Mark Hutchins, Boldstroke program manager. “To protect against these current and emerging threats, we’re applying our combat-proven technology, industry-leading experience, and customer commitment to the next-generation integrated aircraft survivability solution for the U.S. Army’s Common Infrared Countermeasures requirement.”
The Boldstroke DIRCM, backed by BAE Systems’ capability for end-to-end multispectral testing, is the next step in the evolution of aircraft survivability equipment. Boldstroke is a modular, lightweight, highly reliable, and low-cost directable infrared countermeasure suite. It uses modular open-system architecture and non-proprietary standard interfaces that support interchangeability and technology insertion. The Boldstroke DIRCM allows for direct and fiber coupling between the laser and pointer/tracker, providing installation flexibility to meet the size, weight, and power requirements of both light and heavy rotary-wing platforms.
The Boldstroke DIRCM is fully compatible with BAE Systems’ field-proven Common Missile Warning System and consists of flight-proven hardware and algorithms ready for low-risk transition to operational testing. Its compact pointer/tracker is based on a flight-tested gimbal design and advances laser technology to provide spectral diversity and power margin to address emerging threats. The system reduces A-Kit and B-Kit weight to maximize aircraft useful payload and increases weapon system availability, providing significant life-cycle cost savings.
“Modern and future threats to helicopters and other aircraft use multispectral capabilities to overcome countermeasures,” added Hutchins. “It’s imperative to integrate on-board multispectral sensors to detect, track, and defeat incoming missiles or hostile fire threats. Boldstroke more than meets these requirements for the next generation of aircraft survivability.”
BAE Systems is a global defense, security and aerospace company with approximately 107,000 employees worldwide. The Company delivers a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. In 2009 BAE Systems reported sales of £22.4 billion (US$ 36.2 billion).
