US defence contractor Northrop Grumman has landed a rather interesting contract to equip a couple of civilian Airbus A319CJ aircraft with a top of the line infrared countermeasures system.
The $26 million contract should be finalised by March 2016 and then the specially modified “head of state” will enter German service, reports Motley Fool. Although Germany doesn’t exactly top the list of potential terrorist targets, it might be a good idea to have some countermeasures on board when Angela Merkel visits Athens and asks for her money back.
Northrop Grumman already won similar contracts to equip Boeings used by the leaders of Oman and Qatar, which should also come in quite handy when the people of these Gulf nations ask for their countries back.
The AN/AAQ-24(V) is Northrop Grumman’s latest directional infrared countermeasures system. The company claims it can defeat any IR missile out there, although it is clear the threat comes from MANPADs in the wrong hands. It is capable of detecting and simultaneously jamming missiles in high clutter environments and it covers all current IR threat bands.
It is also available in laser based configurations, with added coolness.
http://news.techeye.net/security/ger...ountermeasures
German VIP planes to get infrared countermeasures
27th May 2013, 08:15
German VIP planes to get infrared countermeasures 
