Elix-IR® finds a new home on the RAF Wedgetail

Royal Air Force DAS Threat Warning System

Boeing has selected Leonardo and Thales in the UK to deliver a UK sovereign Defensive Aids System for the UK’s new fleet of five Boeing E-7 Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning MK1 aircraft, in another success for our world beating single-colour-Infra-Red Threat Warning System (Elix-IR®) and our Intelligent Countermeasures Dispensing System (Vicon XF/XF PLUS).

This selection builds on last year’s announcement that Thales’ Elix-IR Threat Warning System (TWS) and Leonardo’s Defensive Aids Systems (DAS) controller and Miysis™ Directed Infra-Red Counter Measure (DIRCM) had been selected to equip the RAF’s fleet of Shadow Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to protect against the latest-generation of missile and hostile fire threats. 

Air platforms are fundamental in the support of war fighting, peace-enforcement and humanitarian operations worldwide. These varied missions often present hostile and threatening conditions to the safety of the crew and passengers. In all operations, air platforms remain high value assets that present a prime target for conventional and unconventional adversaries alike.

Elix-IR is the world’s most advanced multi-function passive Threat Warning System (TWS), offering the core functionalities of a simultaneous Missile Approach Warner (MAW) and Hostile Fire Indication (HFI) solution to counter existing and future missile threats.  It is suitable for use on a wide range of rotary and fixed wing platforms such as helicopters, transport aircraft, UAVs and VIP aircraft. 

For the RAF’s Boeing Wedgetail, Thales UK, under a subcontract from Leonardo, are installing the Elix-IR TWS and the Vicon XF/XF PLUS Intelligent Countermeasures Dispensing System into Leonardo’s Modular Advanced Platform Protection System (MAPPS) and integrating with the Miysis DIRCM. The integrated DAS is fully designed, developed, manufactured and supported in the UK.