March 11,
2008: A year ago, the U.S. Air Force was very upset with how the development of
a new decoy was going or, rather, not going. Back in 2003, the air force issued
an $88 million development contract for a new powered decoy. The new MALD
(miniature air-launched decoy) was to be 9.5 feet long, and its pop-out
wings gave it a five foot wingspan. The
200 pound MALD was to be powered by a small turbojet engine that gave it a
speed of up to about 1000 kilometers an
hour, for 45 minutes at 35,000 feet, or 20 minutes at 3,000 feet. It was to be
programmed to fly a specific course to try and get enemy air defenses to open
up, so they can be spotted and destroyed. MALDs were also designed to be used
in swarms to overwhelm enemy air defenses. Testing and development began in
2003, with the expectation that the new MALD would be ready for service by
2007, at a cost of about $125,000 each. That did not happen, and a lot of air
force generals were not happy.
The
contractor apparently got the message. MALD then proceeded to pass 33 of 35
tests over an eight month period. However, the MALD now weighs 285 pounds and
costs about twice as much. But the modified MALD design can handle more complex
defenses. Apparently, the third try was the charm. An earlier MALD design
project had been cancelled in 2002, as its cost and complexity spiraled out of
control. Eight years ago, the MALD was supposed to be a smaller (eight feet
long), simpler and cheaper ($30,000) design. But, as is common with these
project, both the air force and the manufacturer, or the air force, kept coming up with new things the MALD had to
have. Some were necessary, others were just part of the usual procurement
politics. The current MALD, which is now ready to go into production, has a
range of about 900 kilometers, and is apparently reliable enough to be used in
combat. MALDs are used to deceive enemy radar, and look, at least on a radar,
like a fighter-bomber.
