AMPS delivered to US Army

18th January 2017 – 13:30by The Shephard News Team

BIRD Aerosystems has delivered its Airborne Missile Protection System (AMPS) to the US Army, the company announced on 16 January.

Developed in cooperation with Airbus Defence and Space, AMPS provides enhanced protection for military and civilian aircraft against ground-to-air missiles.

The system is designed to detect, verify and foil surface-to-air missile attacks through the effective use of countermeasure decoys (flares and chaff) and directional infrared countermeasures that jam the missile’s infrared seeker.

The system is fully operational on military and VIP aircraft. AMPS has also evolved into a standard system for NATO, having been installed on military, VIP and civil platforms used by NATO members, the United Nations air operations, governments and air forces.

Original post shephardmedia.com

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AMPS – Airborne Missile Protection System

Image: birdaero.com

Overview

The Airborne Missile Protection System (AMPS) family of solutions is provided in cooperation with AIRBUS Defence and Space. The system has been expressly designed to provide complete protection against all known Surface to Air Missiles (SAM) including the most deadly type – the MANPADS (Man Portable Shoulder Launched Missile).

AMPS automatically works as follows:

1. Detects a missile threat.
2. Processes and optimizes the countermeasure programs.
3. Provides visual and audio alerts to the crew.
4. Initiates the appropriate countermeasure decoys.

The system is certified by leading aircraft manufactures including AIRBUS Helicopters, MIL Design Bureau and others.

The system has a proven track record in the leading conflict zones worldwide, operated continuously by the most advance armed forces in theaters such as Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Image: birdaero.com

AMPS Configurations

AMPS is installed on a large number of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft with a wide verity of detection sensors and configurations. The system ensures complete protection against any available ground to air threat in the following main configurations:

• AMPS-M Protects military and civil aircraft against Shoulder Launched Missiles (MANPADS).
• AMPS-MV Protect civil aircraft against MANPADS attacks using an adaptation of the AMPS system
• AMPS-ML Protects aircraft against MANPADS and Laser Beam Rider threats (LRF, LTD, LBR) .
• AMPS- MLR Protects against MANPADS, Laser Beam Rider threats in addition to radar guided missiles and Radar controlled guns

BIRD provides its customers with a turn-key solution that includes the installation, integration and support for the AMPS system. AMPS is combat proven and has been operational in Afghanistan and Iraq with over 400 installations on platforms such as: EC135, EC635, EC145, BK117, EC155, Cougar, EC225, Mi8, Mi17, UH60, S-92, CH53, B407, B200, B350ER, P3C, C130 and many more.

Image: birdaero.com

Source birdaero.com

Elbit Systems to Supply BrightNite Systems to an Air Force in a NATO Country

By Elbit Systems -January 18, 2017

Elbit Systems announced today that it was awarded a contract to supply groundbreaking, multi spectral BrightNite system to an air force in a NATO country. The contract, in an amount of approximately $17 million, will be performed over a thirty-month period.

Low-flying helicopters are especially vulnerable to threats such as difficult terrain, enemy fire and obstacles in the flight path. Sorties must be performed both day and night and often carried out in DVE conditions, adding to the already heavy workload. Prior to BrightNite, flight crews have had to rely on night vision goggles (which have limited capabilities) to accomplish their mission. Factors like complete darkness, poor weather conditions, brownouts, whiteouts and sandstorms limit the pilots’ Field of View (FOV).

Lightweight, compact and cost-effective, BrightNite is a multi-spectral end to end panoramic piloting solution that delivers the landscape scenery directly to both eyes of the pilot, including 2D flight Symbology and 3D mission symbology, enabling intuitive head-up eyes-out orientation flight in pitch dark and other low visibility landing conditions, including Elbit Systems’ unique brownout symbology. The scenery picture is driven from the multi-spectral sensor which fused multiple day and night cameras into one crystal clear very intuitive piloting picture regardless of outer light conditions.

Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems commented: “We are proud to have won this contract which enables helicopter pilots to gain highly advanced operational capabilities by flying in more than 90% of the nights and in adverse weather conditions. The BrightNite revolutionary solution is suitable for a variety of missions such as Special Forces and search and rescue. Given the important role helicopters are playing in the modern battlefield and the necessity of operating at night, we hope other customers will follow this selection by a NATO country’s air force.

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (“C4ISR”).