“Revolutionizing Military Strategies: Leonardo Unveils Innovative Digital Solutions to Outmaneuver Advanced Air Defense Systems”

Leonardo has introduced a groundbreaking solution, referred to as ‘BriteStorm’, which enables military forces to navigate deeply within enemy zones, even when those areas are safeguarded by advanced Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS).

BriteStorm boasts the functionality for ‘stand-in jamming’: aerial electronic warfare asset, deployed ahead of the main force, to deliver substantial disruption against a wide spectrum of threats. This operation leads to the impairment of the adversary’s IADS, reducing its ability to detect and target additional platforms, thus protecting allied units and aiding in their operations.

The BriteStorm payload is designed to be fitted on a vast array of UAVs and launched effects. It equips each unit with an advanced suite of digital deception techniques, deployable at significant ranges.

The UK Royal Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) is partnering with Leonardo concerning this capability and has procured payloads for evaluation. Successful test flights conducted with the RCO affirming the capability have already taken place.

Developed at Leonardo’s electronic warfare research and production center in Luton, UK, BriteStorm utilizes Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, which forms the foundation of Leonardo’s operational BriteCloud countermeasure, the only DRFM-based expendable available in the market proven effective in live tests. Unlike BriteCloud, which disrupts incoming missile radar guidance systems, BriteStorm is meticulously engineered to confuse and nullify ground-based surveillance radars, ensuring the enemy cannot track or engage allied forces.

BriteStorm functions by leveraging Leonardo’s mission-proven DRFM technology to identify and evaluate the electronic warfare threat environment and subsequently selects the most relevant countermeasure strategy. Depending on the scenario, BriteStorm’s effects can range from overwhelming the enemy system with electronic interference to sophisticated tactics such as generating multiple realistic ‘ghost’ fighter jet signatures, thereby dazing and diverting the adversary’s response.

BriteStorm is compact, lightweight, and platform-agnostic. A typical BriteStorm configuration comprises a platform-specific antenna, transmit-receive components, and Leonardo’s Miniature Technique Generator. Its ease of integration makes BriteStorm an accessible solution to establish a robust, attritable stand-in jamming capability. The BriteStorm development team has capitalized on Leonardo’s extensive digital transformation initiative to create a powerful yet refined product while ensuring the payload remains attritable.

Alongside the UK Ministry of Defence, Leonardo regards the U.S. Department of Defense as a significant potential client for BriteStorm, with the payload set to deliver a competitive edge to operators in contested electronic warfare scenarios while being rapidly reprogrammable to address evolving threats. BriteStorm has been designed for seamless exportability, with demonstration units already established in the USA. Leonardo expects increased interest in BriteStorm from customers throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region.