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A flare or decoy flare is an aerial infrared countermeasure used by an aircraft to counter an infrared homing ("heat-seeking") surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missile. Flares are commonly composed of a pyrotechnic composition based on magnesium or another hot-burning metal, with burning temperature equal to or hotter than engine exhaust.
In certain areas, some aviation regulators mandate the installation, operation, color, and/or status notification of obstruction lighting. For maximum visibility and collision-avoidance, these lighting systems commonly employ one or more high-intensity strobe or LED devices which can be seen by pilots from many miles away from the obstruction.
A sensor detects attacking missiles. Its automatic warning cues the pilot to make a defensive maneuver and deploy the available countermeasures to disrupt missile tracking. Guided surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems were developed during World War II and began to make their presence felt in the 1950s.
Alert or notification of an emergency in progress; Position or location (or localization or pinpointing) of the party in distress. For example, a single aerial flare alerts observers to the existence of a vessel in distress somewhere in the general direction of the flare sighting on the horizon but extinguishes within one minute or less. A hand ...
It can then give electronic instructions to the missile that correct its flight path so it is flying along a straight line from the sighting device to the target. Most antitank SACLOS systems such as Milan and TOW use a strobe or flare ( visible , infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) light) in the tail of the missile with an appropriate sensor on ...
A Royal Air Force Boeing E-3 Sentry over North Yorkshire. An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the battlespace in aerial engagements by informing and directing friendly fighter and attack ...
A modern LUU-2B flare at 1,000 feet altitude illuminates the ground at 5 lux in a radius of 1500 feet. Burn time is 4–5 minutes. The flare is 36 inches long, 4.9 inches in diameter, and weighs about 30 pounds. A similar design called LUU-19B can provide covert illumination in the near-infrared (IR) spectrum with virtually no visual signature.
On March 16, 1955, the U.S. Air Force had ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of “preselected areas of the Earth” in order “to determine the status of a potential enemy’s war-making capability.” [2] The result of this order was the creation of a then-secret USAF program known as WS-117L, which controlled the development ...