MJU-52/B BOL-IR decoy
The BOL-IR (MJU-52/B) decoy is an IR decoy, providing enhanced aircraft survivability and protection against IR guided threats. It was designed to increase the survivability of aircraft capable of carrying the LAU-138A/A Guided Missile Launcher Set BOL dispenser (or its derivatives). The dispenser is currently loaded with 160 chaff cassettes that are dispensed from the BOL by an electro-mechanical gear movement. It is intended that the BOL-IR (MJU-52/B) serve as an improvement over the existing BOL-ALE-39 combination of dispensers by allowing the aircraft commander greater flexibility in optimizing his countermeasure load-out to defeat specific mission threats. The decoy consists of a modified BOL chaff plastic cartridge that houses an IR payload, refer to the figure below. The IR payload produces a specific amount of IR energy in the 2-5 micrometer wavelength portion of the spectrum. The decoy consists of an appropriate amount of a special type of IR material which, when expelled from the sealed container, performs similarly to the MJU-27 A/B decoy flare by generating heat through a pyrophoric process.
BOL-IR utilizes the same flatpacks as the BOL chaff to facilitate the operational use of the BOL dispenser. The difference between the RF and IR packages revolves around the different payload of the decoy devices. The BOL-IR payload is pyrophoric metal (Special Material) which must be contained within an airtight sealed package. The operation of the dispenser and the release of the package are the same as with BOL chaff, however, the mechanism for dispersing the payload differs considerably from BOL chaff. The BOL-IR payload packet seal contains an integral tear strip that is attached to the sail. When released into the airstream the sail acts as a parachute due to the relative drag between the payload packet and the sail. This drag force tears open the seal of the payload packet and the pyrophoric payload is released into the airstream, dispersing aerodynamically in the same manner as the chaff.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/mju-52.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Saturday, January 08, 2000 5:27:19 PM