Northop Grumman has unveiled a new early warning sensor system called Advanced Tactical Friend or Foe Awareness (ATHENA) designed to protect aircraft from shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles. Recent events have made clear that of all the sophisticated weapons systems and platforms that dominate the modern battlefield, it is often the simplest weapons that pose the most persistent threats.
When a plane or helicopter takes off from an unsafe airport, the biggest concern is often not some cutting-edge munition fired by a fighter jet lurking on the horizon, but rather the relatively inconspicuous man-portable air defense system (MANPAD) and its operators hiding in the bushes or behind piles of rubble.
Man-portable air defense systems first appeared in the 1950s as portable launchers that fired heat-seeking missiles that locked onto the infrared signature of aircraft engines. Although short-range, they can be used with deadly effect and are popular with terrorists despite strict international controls on their sale.
Because of this, when transport aircraft take off in a war zone, pilots often release a bunch of decoy flares to confuse the sensors of incoming missiles. According to Northrop, this measure, and others like the company's Common Infrared Countermeasures System (CIRCM), have the disadvantage of only defeating what they can see.
To compensate for this shortcoming, ATHENA is an intelligent system called a "tracking sensor" that is always active and monitors potential threats at any time, including not only shoulder-fired missiles, but also anti-tank guided missiles and other missiles. Unlike previous generations of sensors, ATHENA has higher resolution and longer range, which provides more time to identify and respond to threats, the company said.
Another advancement in ATHENA is that it includes its own data processor, running through advanced software, allowing the system to operate independently without taking up the computing resources needed to perform other tasks on the aircraft.
As a result, the sensor provides pilots and crew with a 360-degree view, seamlessly integrating multiple video signals into a single video signal and even allowing the operator to see through the fuselage as if it were invisible.
"ATHENA embodies our sensor approach of leveraging existing hardware to perform multiple functions and missions," said Dennis Neel, Northrop Grumman program director. "This improves rotorcraft survivability and provides situational awareness previously only available in larger aircraft. It has the potential to make any aircraft significantly more survivable. Getting the warfighter home safely is our ultimate goal."