Leonardo has announced its latest electronic warfare (EW) survivability product, called ‘BriteEye’, at the EW Europe exhibition in London. The product is a highly-affordable defensive aids suite that combines sensing and countermeasures into a single integrated product. BriteEye can detect radar-guided “radio frequency” (RF) threats to aircraft and launch appropriate countermeasures to keep aircrews safe.
BriteEye uses proven technology from Leonardo’s SEER radar warning receiver to detect RF threats and can then automatically cue countermeasures from an integrated countermeasure dispensing system (CMDS) including flares and Leonardo’s BriteCloud expendable radar-jamming decoy.
Designed to fit a compact and lightweight form factor, BriteEye is perfectly suited for light fighters, small intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and even Remotely-Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). Because Leonardo provides the whole system, platform providers can now procure a complete end-to-end RF protection system from Leonardo’s electronic warfare specialists, ensuring smooth interoperability between the different parts of the package.
Leonardo is Europe’s leader in airborne electronic warfare, with more EW systems in service than any other provider. The company has installed defensive systems on UK Armed Forces helicopters such as the AW159 Wildcat, Apache, Puma and Chinook, leads the EuroDASS consortium to provide the integrated defensive aids suite for the Eurofighter Typhoon and is the only company in the world to have proven ‘second generation’ RF expendable decoys in live trials in the form of the company’s BriteCloud product.