U.S. Certifies Matador Anti-missile System

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has certified BAE Systems’ Matador infrared countermeasures (IRCM) missile jamming system as an approved product for national defense. The approval comes under the DHS’ Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (Safety) Act, passed by Congress in 2002. Matador is an infrared lamp-based system as opposed to BAE’s laser-based Jeteye anti-man-portable missile system, which has just begun trials for commercial airliner defense. It can now be deployed on civil fixed-wing aircraft to defeat first-generation infrared missile threats. BAE Systems says Matador has been the preferred fit on aircraft used by VVIP customers flying internationally since 1987. It is the only IRCM system to have received Safety Act certification from the U.S. government.