American decoy missiles deployed to confuse Russian air defence

KYIV is using American decoy missiles to distract Russia’s air defence radars, analysts have said.

Ukraine is deploying ADM-160 Miniature Air-launched Decoys, or MALD missiles, to help recently-delivered British Storm Shadow cruise missiles evade detection and hit their targets.

Photographs of MALD fragments have led to speculation that the US has been shipping more of its most sophisticated weapons to Ukraine than it has previously announced.

The decoy missiles don’t carry an explosive payload. “This would be the first one seen in Ukrainian service,” the Osinttechnical Twitter account, which tracks weapon usage in the war in Ukraine, told its 705,000 followers. “With the capability to mimic an aircraft, these units could be used to bait and confuse Russian air defence systems.”

Russian news outlets posted the fragment photographs hours after at least two British Storm Shadow missiles hit Russian targets 80 miles behind the front line.

Storm Shadow missiles have more than tripled Ukraine’s firepower range to 180 miles, allowing it to hit any target within its territory, including occupied Crimea. And analysts said that teamed up with MALD decoy missiles, the Storm Shadow missiles will reap havoc.

On Thursday, Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, confirmed that Britain was sending Storm Shadow missiles to bolster Ukraine’s anticipated counter-offensive.

Paolo Diaz, editor of the aviacionline. com aviation website, explained that MALD decoy missiles were created by the West to penetrate “robust radarguided” air defence systems after the 1991 Gulf War.

“Its deployment can provide a substantial advantage to the operator, proving its worth in the complex dynamics of modern warfare,” he said.

US weapons producer Raytheon manufactures the MALD decoy missiles. The missiles do not carry a warhead but are instead loaded with sophisticated electronic systems which allow them to mimic an aircraft or a missile.

They are intentionally small, weighing about 45kg (99lbs), so that a single warplane can launch multiple missiles as a “swarm”.

In a promotional video, Raytheon explained that MALD decoy missiles are fired ahead of conventional missiles or warplanes to confuse and expose air defence systems.

They deplete air defence systems by loitering, distracting them from the real target. “With the advanced air defence threat degraded, previously vulnerable strike aircraft [and missiles] are now able to conduct an offensive operation with impunity,” the promotional Raytheon video said.

According to military websites, the MALD missile was only introduced into the US military in 2014.