Singapore has for the first time displayed the Elbit Mini Music Directional Infra-Red Countermeasures (DIRCM) system on its transport helicopters, with an Airbus H225M and Boeing CH-47F Chinook shown to be fitted with them as part of its self-protection suite.
Photos taken by Singaporean defence reporter Mike Yeo and provided to ADM showed the helicopters each had a DIRCM dome fitted onto housings mounted on both sides of their respective fuselages, each housing also having a pair of IR sensors the Elbit All-in-Small self-protection suite fitted.
The helicopters were on display during a ceremony marking the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) declaring Full Operational Capability (FOC) with both helicopter types. Other components of the All-in-Small suite were also shown on the helicopters, including Radar Warning Receivers (RWR), laser sensors, and mounting brackets for decoy dispensers.
The RSAF is a known customer of the All-in-Small self-protection suite, with its fleet of (now-retired) AS332M/M-1 Super Pumas, CH-47SD Chinooks and upgraded Boeing AH-64D Apache helicopters shown to be fitted with similar RWRs, IR and laser sensors, and decoy dispenser brackets.
Manufacturer Elbit says that the All-in-Small “supports mission execution by providing precise sensor-to-shooter information as well as enhancing situational awareness”, and also comes with additional features such as personal locator beacon detection, multi-spectral threat geolocation and drone threat detection.
The self-protection suite is known as the Helicopter Integrated Electronic Warfare System (HIEWS) in the RSAF, with Singapore’s Ministry of Defence previously saying that the project to incorporate the HIEWS was overseen by Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA).
Singapore selected the H225M and CH-47F to replace its fleet of 25-30 Super Pumas and six older CH-47D Chinooks in 2016, with deliveries of both types beginning in 2021.
The Southeast Asian island nation has not officially disclosed how many of each type of helicopter it has acquired, although previous reporting has suggested it is operating 16 H225Ms and 16 CH-47Fs.
The new helicopters will augment the 10 CH-47SDs, with the H225Ms going to the RSAF’s 125 Sqn while 126 and 127 Sqns will operate a mix of CH-47Fs and CH-47SDs. Both 125 and 126 Sqns previously operated the Super Puma, while 127 Sqn has been operating the Chinook since the late 1990s.
Singapore is putting its CH-47SDs through an avionics upgrade to improve commonality between them and the newer CH-47Fs. The upgrade also incorporates the HIEWS and a SATCOM system believed to be the IAL EL/K-1891, and is also the system fitted onto the RSAF’s H225Ms and CH-47Fs.