New South African EW pod takes first flight

[Zarvan]

Now named Inundu, the CSIR pod was displayed at the AAD show held in South Africa in 2014. Source: IHS/Patrick Allen
South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) completed the first flight of its electronic testing, evaluation, and training pod at Lanseria, South Africa on 10 September, the organisation announced a week later.

The Inundu (Zulu for 'moth') pod was fitted on a Hawker Hunter, which flew at up to 350 kt (648 km/h) to assess the pod's influence on aircraft handling and determine the performance of its airframe.

The CSIR has been working for about 16 months on the pod, which is designed as an 'airborne laboratory' for testing electronics on a military-type fast jet and supporting electronic warfare (EW) testing and evaluation. It can be set up so that it is completely independent from the platform that carries it.

"The pod is similar in size and mass to the widely-used BL-755 store, which allows low-cost integration with many fast jet aircraft types, such as the BAE Hawk, Alpha Jet, Hawker Hunter, F-16, Tornado, F-4 Phantom, and the Mirage III. It is highly configurable with a modular interchangeable payload," said Kevin Jamison, leader of the CSIR Inundu aeronautic development team.

The CSIR told IHS Jane's that the next step is to integrate the pod with the Phase 1 electronics payload, which will include the company's Digital Radio Frequency Memories (DRFMs). These simulate radar threat waveforms that can be used to test EW receiver systems as well as radar target and electronic countermeasure waveforms.

The ability to evaluate the performance of existing sensors on naval vessels and aircraft would provide detailed data that would enable users to develop their own concepts of operation and doctrines.

The pod has been designed to support the CSIR, local industry, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and international requirements.

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New South African EW pod takes first flight - IHS Jane's 360