The jammer variant of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy cleared Air Force operational testing, the last major hurdle before the service may declare it ready for use in combat, annou?nced manufacturer Raytheon. “MALD-J’s unique capabilities have been proven in 42 successful flight tests during the last two years and brought us closer to full-rate production,” said Mike Jarrett, Raytheon’s vice president of air warfare systems, in the company’s April 14 release. The Air Force recently tasked Raytheon to build 250 MALD-Js during the weapon’s eighth production lot. The company began delivering the jammer variant to the Air Force in 2012. MALD-J adds radar-jamming capability to the basic MALD platform, which is designed to confuse enemy air defenses by duplicating the flight profiles and radar signatures of friendly aircraft. MALD is already available for combat. It is integrated on the B-52 and the F-16.?
An Air Force F-16 pilot designed a collapsible ladder that weighs just six pounds and folds into the unused cockpit map case.