By Dr. Thomas Withington, EW Europe, Stockholm – My-Konsult unveiled a new version of Astor-IV electronic warfare training pod at EW Europe.
The company has employed carbon fibre in a new version of its Astor-IV Electronic Warfare (EW) training pod. A mock-up was displayed on the firm’s stand during the EW Europe conference and exhibition being held in Stockholm on 14 May and 15 May.
The baseline Astor-IV pod has been in service supporting EW training in Sweden for several years. The pod is also in use with a number of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members.
The new Aster-IV pod, dubbed the Aster-IVCC because of its carbon fibre construction, promises significant weight savings for aircraft, compared to the legacy apparatus: “Less weight equals less fuel which equals less cost, and more time in the air,” a company official said.
Like the Aster-IV, the new pod is intended to equip a wide array of aircraft including fighters and business jets used for EW training.
My-Konsult has migrated the same electronics architecture used in the Aster-IV into the Aster-IVCC. Company officials added that customers with existing pods can convert these into Aster-IVCC pods once these are available.
The Aster-IV’s architecture allows the user to replicate a wide array of electromagnetic threats. Its architecture employs software defined radio and digital radio frequency memory techniques. This avoids the need for frequency up/down converters which can lengthen reaction times. Instead, the pod uses separate generators for each waveband which allows it to transmit a variety of simulated jamming waveforms across all bands simultaneously.
Training missions supported by the pod include escort and stand-off jamming, and self-protection jamming. Additionally, pod can be used for self-protection and be employed as a tactical jammer, radar warning receiver and an electronic support measure. The Aster-IV can gather electronic intelligence and simulate threats across a two megahertz to 18GHz waveband.
My-Konsult continued that the Astor-IVCC still has some developmental work to complete, although officials are confident that it should be available for procurement within the next five years.
