Royal Guard: LAIRCM Systems for Oman & Qatar’s VVIP Jets

The problem

On May 15/13, the US DSCA announced a pair of official export requests to provide and install Northrop Grumman’s AN/AAQ-24(V) Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM), for use on Oman and Qatar’s royal flight VVIP jets.

LAIRCM is a defensive system that couples detectors to track incoming missiles, with a laser that locks on to the missile’s seeker. A series of timed laser pulses lead the missile harmlessly astray. That won’t stop a radar-guided S-300, but it isn’t designed to. It’s designed as a defense against the shoulder-fired MANPADS air defense missiles that might be used in a sneak attack, like the one that nailed a DHL airliner over Baghdad in 2003. The specific requests include:

Rapid Fire May 17, 2013: Maintaining the US Naval Nuclear Deterrent

• Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, the US Navy’s Director of Undersea Warfare, says they have enough SSBNs at the moment to fulfill deterrence goals, and will need at least 10 operational SSBNs to continue to do so in the future. And to do that until the introduction of the new SSBN “we must complete refueling overhauls of all 14 Ohio SSBNs and operate the 12 newest of them to their full 42-year extended life.” On background: 2010 nuclear posture review [PDF] | Finite deterrence.