By Richard Scott
The Israeli Navy has completed sea trials of the latest DESAVER Mk 4 decoy launch and control system, manufacturer Elbit Systems (Haifa, Israel) has revealed. Designed to provide soft-kill protection against a range of anti-ship threats, the fourth-generation DESEAVER system combines a number of launcher installations – either fixed, trainable or stabilized trainable – with software-based command and control (C2) functionality. The system is capable of firing a range of different countermeasure types, including chaff, corner reflectors, infrared decoys and active offboard decoys.
While Elbit did not disclose the identity or class of the platform, the trials of DESEAVER Mk 4 are thought likely to have formed part of the combat system acceptance program for the Israel Navy’s new Sa’ar 6 Magen-class missile corvettes. Alongside DESEAVER Mk 4, the four Sa’ar 6 vessels are also entering service with an Elbit-supplied electronic warfare (EW) suite and Rafael’s C-GEM active offboard decoy.
