An sensor improvement to boost performance of the Nulka
Active Missile Decoy has been given the green light.
This is the first significant enhancement since production
began in 1997.
In September last year, a change to the flight control of the
decoy, known as the Absolute Pressure Air Data Assembly (APADA), passed a
series of functional and physical audits at Richmond.
Production on the new sensor will begin this year and
follows successful flight trials at Woomera in May conducted for Australian and
US government representatives.
The enhancement considerably improves the reliability and
performance of the Nulka decoy by being fully testable and more accurate.
APADA uses a range of calibration algorithms and Micro
Electro Mechanical Systems technology to measure the airspeed, height and direction
of the decoy to virtually eliminate errors that could occur as a result of
changing pressures and temperature.
The sensor has also been developed to overcome varying
pressures while a decoy is in its storage canister.
Nulka Project Manager Neil McCoy said: “The customer was
delighted with the functionality which offers both improved performance and reduced
production costs.”
This is the first significant enhancement since production began in 1997.
