MILDS missile protection system making good progress: EADS

Bangalore: The European Aviation and Defence Systems (EADS) has supplied 24 of a total of 36 sensors for integration and further development by India's Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), as part of the process of jointly developing a missile warning system, primarily to protect IAF aircraft, EADS Defence Electronics CEO Bernhard Gerwert said at the Aero India show here.

EADS and DARE signed a strategic cooperation agreement last year to jointly develop a missile warning system based on an EADS sensor called the MILDS AN/AAR–60. The system is to be integrated into the existing multi–sensor warning network of India s armed forces.

MILDS is a passive, true imaging sensor device for helicopters and wide-body aircraft. Optimised to detect the radiation signature that is emitted from an approaching hostile missile exhaust plume. Its key features include high angular accuracy, Fast reaction, and high warning time.

Observing that the EADS–DARE pact was “making good progress“, Gerwert said the sensor has already proven itself by being deployed in a large number of aircraft, including rotary wing and wide–bodied ones. A version for fighter aircraft is currently under development, he said.