A Typhoon towing a decoy. (Image credit: Gian Luca Onnis)
Towed decoy systems are used to protect military aircraft from radar-guided missiles. These countermeasures are towed behind the host aircraft protecting it against both surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. They provide a radiowave reflecting bait that attracts the RF-guided missiles away from the intended target.
Unlike the miniature air launch decoys (MALD) and decoy jammers (MALD Jammers) being tested by the U.S. Air Force for B-52H bombers and F-16 Fighting Falcons to deceive ground radars and anti-aircraft systems, such decoys have a defensive purpose.
Many aircraft are equipped with such towed decoys. The U.S. F-18s and B-1s are equipped with the ALE-50 system, while the Eurofighter Typhoon is equipped with a Towed Radar Decoy carried in the starboard side wingtip pod.
According to the information released by Eurofighter, the TRD is attached to the pod using a Fibre Optic link used to send commands to the decoy radio frequency emitter to produce jamming signals required to lure the missile away from the “parent aircraft”.
Even if the Eurofighter website contains several diagrams showing the Typhoon’s towed decoy, no image can be found of the decoy being towed by a plane, except the following ones taken by Gian Luca Onnis (during an unclassified test – image released).
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If you Google Earth Beale Air Force Base, you will see a group of 4 U 2's and in front of them is some type of jet engine drone with wingspan of about 112 ft. Looks like there is a top mounted engine. There is another one near another U2 near a hanger to the East. Anyone know what the heck this is? I can't find anything on the net about it.
Those are RQ-4 Global Hawk drones.
You should take another look now. There are 3 U-2's on the tarmac.
Yes, I have, in live situation during Odussey Dawn, when a SP F-16CM-50 brought back an ALE_50 from what was the longest Viper sortie in history. Of course it was a late discovery however:
http://legiero.blog.hu/2011/09/01/kesei_felfedezes_ale_50_a_levegoben
Yes
At EADS Cassidian we already made successfull flight trials with Towed Radar Decoy on Tornado fighter. It had been tested under all flight conditions