U.S. Navy Plans Long-Lasting Electronic Warfare Decoys To Fight Large-Scale Attacks

The U.S. Navy is working on improving its electronic warfare capabilities after the combat use of Nulka decoys showed their effectiveness.

Rear Admiral William Daly, head of the Navy’s surface warfare division, discussed the need during the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium.

He talked about the importance of decoys that can operate for tens of minutes to defend against large-scale missile and drone attacks.

Nulka decoys, developed by the U.S. and Australia, are designed to hover in the air after being launched. They emit signals that mimic the presence of large warships, tricking radar-guided missiles into targeting the decoy instead of the ship.

These decoys are used on U.S. Navy vessels like Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. They are also deployed on U.S. Coast Guard legend-class cutters and some foreign naval ships.

While the exact duration Nulka decoys can remain aloft is not publicly known, their use in combat has proven valuable. Daly said more decoys with longer endurance are needed to handle attacks involving multiple missiles or drones.

He said that Nulka has performed well but stated, “We need longer legs for saturation, to counter saturation rates, and tens of minutes or longer for off-board.”

The Navy has been using Nulka decoys in operations, including defending against missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea since October 2023. In 2016, the destroyer USS Mason also launched Nulka decoys to respond to a missile attack by Houthi militants in Yemen.

Video Credits: BAE Systems Australia/YouTube

The Navy is working on a new system called the Long Endurance Electronic Decoy (LEED) to meet the demand for better decoys.

According to the Navy’s 2025 budget request, LEED will be an expendable decoy system with a flight vehicle and a modular electronic warfare (EW) payload that can be updated quickly.

LEED build on earlier research, such as the Long Endurance Airborne Platform (LEAP), which shows similar capabilities using a small rotary-wing drone called the Netted Offboard Miniature Active Decoy (NOMAD).

Rear Admiral Daly also discussed the Navy’s investments in unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). He doubts about the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) program, saying it has become too expensive and complex.

Daly suggested a simpler, affordable design that could carry either weapons or intelligence equipment and be built quickly at multiple shipyards. He mentioned the Overlord program, which uses USVs with containerized payloads.

Earlier, Senators Jack Reed and Roger Wicker urged the Navy to shift funding from the LUSV program to other promising unmanned systems, such as the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV).

Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, also talked about the challenges of using unmanned systems effectively in larger conflicts, despite their success in specific missions like intelligence gathering and submarine rescues.

References: The War Zone, Breaking Defense

Source: Maritime Shipping News