Protection Systems Air
Armour protection and decoy flares
Rheinmetall offers a wide range of high-effective active and passive protection solutions.
Rheinmetall develops highly efficient spectrally balanced decoys, array flares and spot flares for protecting carrier aircrafts, helicopters, jets and fighter jets from modern infrared surface-to-air and air-to-air guided missiles. Crisis reaction forces can use these decoys, for example, as can civil aviation operators.
Furthermore Rheinmetall develops passive system solutions for protecting from ballistic threats by applying the latest modular composite technologies.
Birdie 118 and 218 – Bi-spectral IR decoy
The Birdie flares are specially balanced infrared (IR) decoys available in the calibres 1 x 1 x 8" and 2 x 1 x 8". The flare is designed for protection of any kind of helicopters, transport aircraft and jets. Through replication of the aircraft signature in the mid-wave infrared Birdie perfectly decoys modern surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and air-to-air missiles (AAM) with 2-colour ratio discrimination.
The effectiveness of Birdie is seeker tested and operationally proven.
Birdie 218J – High performance fighter jet bi-spectral IR decoy
The Birdie 218J flare is a specially balanced infrared (IR) decoy available in the caliber 2 x1x8". The flare is designed for protection of fighter jets.
The effectiveness of Birdie 218J is seeker tested by the U.S.A. and NATO.
Helicopter Armour Protection
Rheinmetall provides light weight protection for helicopters based e.g. on composite material. The protection components can include the cockpit protection, floor protection, side protection, lateral protection, seat protection and protection of other vital parts. Projects like for the NH 90 and Tiger were realized according to STANAG 4569 and customer specifications.
Military Object Protection VERHA-Air
One of the greatest challenges for modern armies is equipping vehicles, helicopters and ships with the maximum possible protection while keeping additional weight to a minimum. VERHA-Air (Versatile Rheinmetall Armour) is made of various materials tested for its suitability for military use, such as individually coated aramid, high performance polyethylene and glassfibre. Against higher threat levels these materials can be combined with various kinds of ballistic ceramics for optimum security and optimum mobility.