TUCSON, May 7 (UPI) -- Defense company Raytheon says it will begin a series of flight tests on its Miniature Air Launched Decoy technology following a new U.S. Air Force contract.
The new testing, part of an engineering, manufacturing and design phase, will take place with Raytheon's stand-in jammer variant of the company's MALD technology.
Raytheon authorities say the testing on the new MALD-J, which adds radar-jamming capabilities to the MALD decoy flight vehicle, will include a series of free-flight and captive-carry tests.
The EMD contract phase is worth $48.9 million and follows a previous 27 tests including a recent free-flight test of the MALD-J at the end of April.
"The success of this program is crucial because it will reduce or eliminate the need for manned stand-in jamming aircraft," Ken Watson, the Air Force MALD program manager, said in a statement.
