MALD-J in low-rate production

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TUCSON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Raytheon is to begin low-rate initial production of its Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer variant following U.S. Air Force authorization.

MALD is a low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable, weighs less than 300 pounds and has a range of about 575 miles.

The system helps protect aircraft by duplicating combat flight profiles and signatures of U.S. and allied aircraft. The MALD-J also features radar-jamming capability.

Raytheon said the Air Force also exercised a $5 million contract option to convert Lot 4 MALD production of the baseline to the MALD-J variant.

"MALD-J will save the lives of aviators because commanders will be able to use MALD-J to conduct dangerous stand-in jamming missions instead of using manned aircraft to do the job," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems product line.

"The 125 Raytheon employees who make MALD and the hundreds of suppliers across the nation who support MALD can be proud of their contribution to the warfighter."