OFF-BOARD ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES FOR SUBSCALE TARGETS

A PHASE I PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO PERFORM DESIGN TRADE-OFFS AND DEVELOP RELIMINARY DESIGN OF A PRACTICAL RADAR DECOY WHICH IS APABLE OF BEING TOWED BEHIND, AND WILL PROVIDE TERMINAL-PHASE PROTECTION FOR A BQM-74C, OR SIMILAR, TARGET VEHICLE. THE CONTRACTOR HAS AN EXTENSIVEKNOWLEDGE OF TOWED DECOY DESIGN TECHNOLOGY, COMPONENTS AND DESIGN OPTIONS. THEREFORE, THE DESIGN WILL BE TAILORED TO THE USERS HIERARCHYOF NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS WITH OPERATIONAL SIMPLICITY AT MINIMUM COST TO THE GOVERNMENT. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL FULLY CONSIDER TRANSMITAND RECEIVE ANTENNA CONFIGURATIONS, ANTENNA GAIN AND PATTERNS, FREQUENCY COVERAGE, ANTENNA ISOLATION, ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DESIGN, POWER SOURCE, DECOY AERODYNAMICS, TOWLINE DYNAMIC STABILITY, DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM (AND RETRIEVAL, IF REQUIRED), AND A VARIETY OF OTHER DESIGN ISSUES AND THEIR INTERACTIONS. EMPHASIS WILL BE WILL BE PLACED ON THE DESIGNOF A SYSTEM WHICH IS INEXPENSIVE AND SIMPLE TO USE. SPECIAL CONSIDERATION WILL BE GIVEN TO DESIGN ISSUES WHICH ARE UNIQUE TO SMALL AIR VEHICLES LIKE THE BQM-74, INCLUDING TOWLINE TENSION, WHICH PRODUCES EXTERNAL DRAG AND TRIM INPUTS TO THE TARGET VEHICLE. SINCE A NUMBER OF PRACTICAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS AND VARIATIONS ARE POSSIBLE, THE FINAL DESIGN SELECTION WILL BE TAILORED TO THE PREFERENCES OF THE USERS AND SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT APPROVAL. UNDER A POTENTIAL PHASE II PROGRAM, FINAL DETAIL DESIGN WILL BE COMPLETED AND ONE OR MORE COMPLETE FLYABLE DECOY SYSTEMS, WITH DECOY, DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM AND ANCILLARY SUBSYSTEMS WILL BE FABRICATED AND DELIVERED.