Hensoldt protects Belgian F-16 against missile attacks

Belgian Air Force F-16 fighters are to be equipped with Hensoldt‘s proven AN/AAR-60 (V) 2 MILDS F (Missile Launch Detection System, Fighter) missile warning system integrated into Terma’s PIDS+ (Pylon Integrated Dispensing System) weapon pylon. With this contract Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and now Belgium, all F-16 operator countries, are relying on Hensoldt’s MILDS F.

“MILDS F with its very low false alarm rate and fast detection combined with automatic initiation of countermeasures relieves the pilot’s workload in time-critical situations and ensures the safe return of both crew and aircraft,” explains Hensoldt CEO Thomas Müller.

The AN/AAR-60 (V) 2 MILDS F is a passive true-imaging sensor device optimised to detect the radiation signature in the UV solar blind spectral band that is emitted from an approaching hostile missile exhaust plume. Several sensors linked to a Countermeasure Signal Processor provide full spherical coverage and rapid reaction. The system is designed to work in the harsh environment of fighter aircraft and allows flexible installation in either pylons, pods or in the fuselage. MILDS F considerably enhances the protection against anti-aircraft missiles such as shoulder-fired infrared-guided missiles, which cannot easily be detected by current warning systems.

The AN/AAR-60 (V) 2 MILDS F is using enhanced key components of the very successful MILDS AN/AAR-60 missile warner, which is in operational use as the standard missile warning device on helicopters and transport/mission aircraft world-wide, including TIGER, NH90, CH-53, CH-47 and C-130.

The F-16 PIDS was developed, and is operational in air forces in USA, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Jordan, Portugal and the UAE. In 2001, versions of the ECIPS and PIDS with a Missile Warning System (MWS) were developed and named ECIPS+ and PIDS+. They are now fully Seek Eagle certified and operational in Denmark and Norway; and now in Belgium.