September 29, 2009: Taiwan is buying the American AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) for its twelve P-3C maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The purchase consists of sixty sensors, to detect approaching missiles, and computer equipment to make the decision to alert the crew, and release flares (the most typical countermeasure, which lures the heat seeking missile away from the aircraft). Some nations use a more expensive laser based countermeasures system, where the laser "blinds" the oncoming missile with laser light.
