Modular Expendable Electronic Warfare (EW) Decoy Buoy for Undersea Platforms

For the US submarine force to continue operating in contested environments with increasingly capable radars, we need the capability to elude detection. One way is via countermeasures that deceive enemy radars into reporting incorrect target shape, range and velocity via a Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) jammer. In the Phase I study, we design a modular, expendable electronic warfare decoy buoy that can be physically configured and programmed to provide DRFM decoy functions against enemy radars operating over a frequency range of 1-40 GHz; fits within a mechanical package compatible with the submarine standard 3- inch launcher and can operate at depths >800 feet; and is comprised of transceiver and processing subsystems already funded as part of existing NAVAIR and PMS435 programs. Azure leverages ongoing development of a wideband transceiver for PMS435 next generation EW systems and NAVAIR PMA290, as well as extensive experience in developing low-SWAP, wideband software defined radio systems for military SIGINT, EW, and navigation applications. Our partner for the effort, Sparton, is a supplier of tactical sonobuoys to the Navy and will provide discriminating expertise in both the initial design of the EW decoy buoy and realistic estimation of the unit cost during volume manufacturing.