The Building Blocks of Gripen’s Countermeasure Capabilities
With advancements of technologies in the field of defence taking place at a rapid rate, combat and conflict situations will only get more complicated in future. The missiles are going to be bigger, better. What a fighter needs is survivability that is effective.
ESTL, with its modular structure, offers efficient self-protection for virtually any type of fixed-wing aircraft on a mission-to-mission basis. Missiles of today maybe smart, but ESTL – together with the MAW sensors, and AIM-9 and AIM-120 interface – acts as a powerful shield against them.
The Missile Approach Warning system (MAW) provides rapid, accurate detection and tracking data of approaching missiles.
BOP, the lightweight pyrotechnical dispenser, boasts of a forward firing capability enabling superior protection against latest missiles. BOL, on the other hand, is a lightweight electromechanical dispenser holding efficient chaff or IR payloads. Together with BOP, it gives ESTL an advanced countermeasure dispensing capability.
ESTL provides covert sustainable pre-emptive dispensing, missile warning, forward firing of flares, and cocktail dispensing. All these capabilities have been incorporated into the form-factor of a missile utilizing the well-established AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM interfaces and characteristics for lean aircraft integration.
ESTL offers state-of-the-art self-protection against 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation IR- seekers. A standard, AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM, interface makes it possible to share ESTL units among the aircraft of an entire fleet, which mean better internal coordination during missions. Not just that, ESTL can handle up to eight threats simultaneously.
In short, ESTL makes Gripen untouchable.