Roke Manor Research Limited

Thomas Welsh

Peter Gregory Lloyd

Philip Edward Galloway

There is provided an autonomous off-board defensive aids system ( ) for use with a host craft ( ), for example, with combat aircraft or submarines. More particularly, the host craft ( ) deploys a plurality of controllable off-board units ( ) to counter an offensive threat or to engage in autonomous offensive actions. The controllable off-board units ( ) implement active stealth facilities: each off-board unit ( ) having a receiver unit for detecting impinging detection pulses, for example radar or sonar pulses, and a transmitter unit for generating an artificial detection pulse profile, for example &ldquo;spoofing&rdquo; or masking the presence of the host craft. The controllable off-board units are of two types: tethered ( ) and free moving ( ). The off-board units ( ) can have conventional propulsion apparatus, for instance, propellers, rockets or jets. Off-board units ( ) each have control apparatus which allows the off-board units ( ) to co-operate. General commands are conveyed to the control apparatus by control cabling provided in the tether cable ( ).

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Hedge End, United Kingdom

Thomas Welsh