Nichols Martin
The U.S. Navy has demonstrated the airworthiness of a BAE Systems-made prototype of a technology meant to provide the P-8A Poseidon aircraft with radio frequency missile defense.
The pod-mounted radiofrequency countermeasure passed its airworthiness test while installed on the P-8A platform operated by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron or VX 20, Naval Air Systems Command said Friday.
The evaluation was conducted on March 12 at test ranges of Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Atlantic. The technology provides a decoy to help P-8A deter surface-to-air RF missile attacks.
The Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft Program Office worked with other technical teams to run the RFCM project.
BAE Systems developed the suite of additional internal equipment of the RFCM pod under an other transaction authority award.
The team then brought the pod to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California for effectiveness testing, which ran from March 21 to 26.
The technology will undergo system-level testing in preparation for platform integration and fielding activities planned for the future.
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