Back to results
US 5,398,032 AGranted
Towed multi-band decoy
AssigneeTTI Tactical Technologies Inc.
InventorsTrevor W. Tucker, William B. Vigder, Charles E. Zwicker, John K. Schreiber
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeTTI Tactical Technologies Inc.
InventorsTrevor W. Tucker, William B. Vigder, Charles E. Zwicker, John K. Schreiber
Estimating the term…
The towed multi-band radar decoy or target is a collapsible, airstream-inflatable device intended to be used for providing gunnery practice or electronic countermeasure protection for aircraft against radars and radar-guided missiles by being towed on a line behind the aircraft and offering a more attractive radar target than the aircraft for the radar or radar guided missile to track and home on. The decoy or target is collapsible, so that many can be stored in a small space, and can be deployed while an aircraft is airborne. The decoy is comprised of a sleeve of radar-transparent fabric having a tapered cylindrical shape and an open mouth at a narrow end, and clusters of orthogonal trihedral corners formed from flat conductive surfaces fixed inside and to said sleeve which can be folded and collapsed into a small space, and once inflated, for providing a radar reflective signature which exceeds that of a towing aircraft over predetermined angular aspects.
A radar countermeasure decoy or training target for towing behind an airborne vehicle and inflating from a collapsed condition due to drag forces, comprised of an inflatable sleeve, collapsible clusters of orthogonal trihedral corners formed from substantially flat conductive surfaces contained within and coupled to the sleeve and erected due to inflation of the sleeve for providing a radar reflective signature which exceeds that of a towing aircraft or mimics the radar signature of a predetermined aircraft over predetermined angular aspects and further including at least one foldable umbrella-like spoked structure coupled to said sleeve to which the conductive surfaces are fastened, the foldable spoked structure extending or inflating into a deployed position from a collapsed condition with inflation of said sleeve thereby holding said surfaces in predetermined positions relative to each other and forming said orthogonal trihedral corners.
A radar or target countermeasure decoy for towing behind an airborne vehicle comprised of a collapsible sleeve of radar-transparent fabric having a tapered cylindrical shape and an open mouth at a narrow end, and collapsible clusters of orthogonal trihedral corners formed from flat conductive surfaces fixed inside and to said sleeve for providing a radar reflective signature which exceeds that of a towing aircraft or mimics a radar reflective signature of a predetermined aircraft over predetermined angular aspects, once deployed, further including at least one flexible spoked structure to which the conducting surfaces are fastened coupled to said sleeve, the foldable spoked structure extending or inflating with said sleeve from a collapsed position into a deployed position thereby holding said surfaces in positions relative to each other and forming said orthogonal trihedral corners.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.