MANPADS protection for civil aircraft using an expendable decoy

With the ever present threat of MANPADS throughout the world the protection of civil aircraft is a desirable capability that has special requirements in terms of certification, safety, logistics, affordability, environmental impact and exportability. The Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System (CAMPS), which includes the CIV-IR (infrared) leaf-based pyrophoric (not pyrotechnic) expendable countermeasure, is a system designed to meet these requirements. This paper presents the operating aspects of the decoy, including discussion of design features necessary to ensure safety both on the ground and in flight and assure successful deployment. The characteristics of the CIV-IR have been measured, both on static single leaves in the laboratory and on deployed packs in field tests and aircraft trials. These measured properties have been used in engagement modelling and simulation to assess the level of protection that can be afforded to commercial airliners against generation 1 and 2 MANPADS threats. Aircraft flight trials with ground based seekers have also been carried out to validate the modelling work. These combine to define the deployment patterns necessary for a successful seduction of the MANPAD.