The outboard dispense of MJU-50/B infrared decoys from the PIDS pylon on an F-16 aircraftrnwith wingtip AIM-9J missile shapes was demonstrated in flight. The flight test demonstrationrnwas performed to investigate the compatibility of outboard dispensed infrared decoy materialrncontact with the aircraft wing surfaces, wingtip missiles and launchers. Since store separationrnflight test missions are typically designed to avoid collisions between the separated store andrnthe aircraft or captive stores, the unique considerations that arose from planningrncountermeasure dispense missions with intended collisions are discussed. To providernconditions favorable for decoy contact with the aircraft and AIM-9J missile, the decoys wererndispensed during level rolling maneuvers into the decoy dispense plane at low to moderaternairspeeds. Impact with the aircraft wing surface was incidental, but substantial decoy materialrnimpacted the AIM-9J tail fins at all airspeeds tested. The data presented include the dispensernflight conditions, pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight photographs, and select high-speed filmrnsequences from onboard cameras. The paper addresses the investigation of the flight regime,rnthe determination of appropriate flight restrictions, and includes recommendations for furtherrnflight testing to characterize the outboard dispense of MJU-50/B infrared decoys fromrnoperational F-16 configurations.
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