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Chemring Defence, a U.K.-based company specializing in pyrotechnics, countermeasures and munitions, recently sold an initial batch of its new shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile simulators to the U.S. Defense Department, and is awaiting final DoD certification.
Chemring is hopeful this will open the door to more U.S. sales for its MANPAD (man-portable air defense) Weapon Effects Signature Simulator (WESS), which the company says could replace existing “Smokey SAM” rockets launched at planes during live exercises.
The company says WESS uses a self-consuming pyrotechnic to replicate the launch signature of a MANPAD. Two cartridges are placed on a launch platform, which can also be used for other types of pyrotechnic devices such as smoke or starbursts. Multiple platforms can be “daisy-chained” and their contents fired by cable or wireless LAN connections.
When fired, the WESS cartridges replicate the signature of many types of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, such as the sound of a blast, bright light, a smoke trail and an infrared plume.
The WESS pyrotechnic leaves a smoke trail of about 300 meters, mimicking what aircrew would expect to see from the launch of a MANPAD. This adds to the realism of exercises, with an aircrew able to actually see the launch, as opposed to merely being told by simulation equipment that a missile has been fired at them.
Once WESS reaches the end of its flight path, the cartridge is consumed, leaving no projectile or debris. This means, according to Chemring, that training can be conducted from an airfield, including those close to urban areas, eliminating the costs of using a designated firing range.
DoD has already received an initial batch of WESS pyrotechnics and the system is still going through final qualification, but “certification is imminent,” said Steve Blades, director of sales and marketing for Chemring.
Blades declined to detail the scale or value of the contract, but added that European nations have expressed interest in WESS as well.
