Jammers And Decoys
Jammers And Decoys
The Superhornet uses a number of advanced electronic systems in order to improve its survivability. Two of the most important of these systems are the ALQ-165 Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ) and the ALE-50 towed decoy.
The ALQ-165 Jammer
The Superhornet’s self-protection jammer is an onboard system (requiring no external stores) comprising a series of transmit/receive antennas and a processing unit. It is capable of detecting threats and countering them with noise jamming. Noise jamming is a technique that raises the level of background noise against which target returns may be detected. Thus, the usual response to noise jamming is for the receiving radar operator to reduce the receiver sensitivity (and thus lower the detection range) while still providing an azimuth to the jamming target. Thus, an aircraft that is actively jamming is not invisible to radar. Quite the contrary, in fact; jamming aircraft are broadcasting their general position to all, but their precise speed and position are unknown. Thus, noise jamming lets everyone know that there is something out there, but not necessarily what it is, where it is, or how fast it is coming. At a certain range from a radar, a jammer’s capability to deny tracking information will be overcome. This point is known as burn-through.
When to use the ALQ-165
It is important to leave your jammer OFF in most situations. If it is on at all times, there will two main negatives:
- You are broadcasting your presence to everyone.
- Radars will not lock on to you until you have entered their burn-through range. At this point the jammer provides no defense.
The goal is to activate the jammer when a radar first locks on to you and/or when a missile is first launched. In the typical engagement scenario, this takes places outside of burn-through range, and activating the jammer at this point has a significant chance of breaking the lock. When your systems have indicated that the lock is broken, turn off the jammer immediately. The jammer is toggled with the JAMMER command (default keystroke “j”). The XMIT light on the left panel illuminates when the ALQ-165 is emitting a jamming signal.
The ALE-50 Towed Decoy
The Superhornet is equipped with 3 decoys at the start of every flight. These decoys can be deployed at the appropriate time so that they trail behind the aircraft at a short distance. The goal of a towed decoy is to broadcast electrical signals designed to interfere with an inbound missile in the terminal phase of flight. Like the ALQ-165 jammer, the ALE-50 decoy emits an active signal and can alert the enemy to the presence of the emitting aircraft. There are two stages to implement when using the towed decoy. First, the decoy must be deployed, and once it is trailing behind your aircraft it must be activated.
The ALE-50 status is displayed on your EW display, and the number following the status is the number of decoys remaining.
- STOW: the ALE-50 decoy is stowed (inactive)
- STBY: the ALE-50 decoy is in transit (inactive)
- DPLY: the ALE-50 decoy is deployed (not transmitting)
- JAM: the ALE-50 decoy is transmitting
- EMCON: ALE-50 decoy operation is inhibited by EMCON
- NO DCY: no ALE-50 decoys remain; system is unusable
When to use the ALE-50
The towed decoy should be activated when you think an inbound missile is nearing its terminal phase of flight and you have not yet broken lock. Before activating the decoy it must be deployed. You can do this at any time, but at throttle settings of 88% or greater the afterburner flame will part the decoy’s cable and one of the three decoys will be lost. If you think afterburner will be necessary during defensive maneuvering, do not deploy the decoy. It may be wise to use afterburner to gain energy, then reduce the throttle setting as you deploy the decoy. The decoy is deployed with the DECOY_DEPLOY command (default keystroke “SHF+END”) or by clicking on the DPY MDI button. It is activated with the DECOY_XMIT command (default keystroke “END”) or by clicking on the ON or OFF MDI button.