Civil servant

Saab has developed a missile protection system for civil aircraft which is claimed to be safer and more effective than any current technology.

The Saab Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System (CAMPS) is designed to be fitted to civil aircraft to protect from man-portable surface-to-air missile launchers. The system boasts a number of innovations designed to make it more effective.

Sophisticated filters
At a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society last week, Saab’s Goran Karlstrom presented the technology which uses a UV missile approach system known as MAW-300 (Missile Approach Warning). This uses four MAW sensors fitted to an aircraft which together can achieve 360º coverage.

The sensors detect the UV light emitted by a missile’s burning propellant from when it is launched and in flight. They incorporate sophisticated filters, image-intensifier tubes and a photo-counting focal array to achieve a high degree of sensitivity.

‘Over the past 10 years there have been 35 attempts on civil aircraft worldwide,’ said Karlstrom. ‘We believe this system can give a level of accuracy well beyond current anti-missile systems.’