DSEI 2013: Thales and Blue Bear reach major ACCOLADE milestone
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ACCOLADE is a joint UK-French research project to develop an off-board decoy that can defeat advanced anti-ship missiles. The Underwater and Electronic Warfare team at DE&S is acting as the contracting authority.
Thales UK and Blue Bear are working on a complete decoy, consisting of a carrier and electronic warfare payload, fired from a launcher and sent clear of the ship. Once the decoy slows down from the ballistic trajectory the positional vehicle begins jamming. As a missile nears the target ship, the decoy can be manoeuvred into position, where it aims to distract or disturb the range and accuracy of the missile seeker guidance system. If the missile seeker is already locked onto the ship in final attack phase, the decoy presents a false signature of the host platform to ‘seduce’ the missile away from the ship.
DE&S’s project manager for ACCOLADE, Trevor McKerlich of the Underwater and Electronic Warfare team, said, “The trial has de-risked the critical launch phase of the ACCOLADE solution and I now look forward to the next major milestone.”
Gavin Goudie, Blue Bear Flight Operations Manager and Blue Bear Project Lead, said, “This first flight represents another positive step towards full trials to be conducted throughout 2013 and 2014”.
“This successful trial marks the start of a very important phase for the ACCOLADE programme, where the concept that has been under development for the past three years will finally be brought to life,” said Daniel Gilderthorp, Programme Manager at Thales UK. “The Thales-Blue Bear team is very proud of the solution it has produced and looks forward to the next stages of our partnership and this exciting project.”
