Chemring Countermeasures UK Starts TALOS IR Decoy Deliveries
By Richard Scott and John Knowles
Chemring Countermeasures UK (Salisbury, UK) has commenced deliveries of its new TALOS 130-mm infrared (IR) seduction decoy a part of a broader Foreign Military Sales (FMS) scope of supply.
A proprietary “autofire” decoy designed as an exportable fit/form solution akin to the Royal Navy’s MK 245 A2 IR seduction cartridge, TALOS fires a sequence of five airburst submunitions (a mix of burning red phosphorous leaves and emissive smoke) at staggered ranges to effect seeker “walk off” from the target.
CCM UK received its first order for TALOS in 2024 as part of an FMS buy contracted through US-based MBDA Inc. The sale, which also includes the supply of proprietary MK 36 Type 1 radio frequency (RF) seduction chaff and CCM216 Mk 1 Type 1 RF distraction chaff rounds, addresses a requirement for 130-mm decoy rounds to equip new multi-mission surface combatants for a US export customer.
CCM UK sees TALOS as the basis for a family of programmable 130-mm smart submunition-type RF and IR decoy rounds exploiting a new Non-Contact Communications (NCC) system. According to the company, the ability to program rounds before launch will optimize the soft-kill response in respect of the distance, height and burst time for each submunition.
Development of the NCC system began in 2024. Adopting a “smart stores” communication interface (compliant to STANAG 4781), the launcher-agnostic NCC will exchange data bi-directionally at up to 1 MBPS using magnetic induction coils in the barrel and on the decoy round itself.
Initial “smart” interface functionality – allowing rounds to advise the launcher of their identity/type, health and status – is planned for qualification by the end of this year. Full bi-directional functionality, enabling individual decoys to be programmed in the barrel immediately before launch, will follow before the end of 2027.
In other Chemring Group news, the copmany’s US subsidiary, Alloy Surfaces Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) won two contracts for the DOD that have led it to reverse its 2025 decision to cease operations at the facility. The company received a contract modification to an earlier Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract for pyrophoric airborne decoys, with a minimum order value of $35 million per year over the next three years, and a potential value of up to $300 million over a five-year period. The contract modification was awarded under the Defense Production Act, with deliveries beginning in FY2028. Alloy Surfaces also won a $45 million award under an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement funded by the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program. This funding will be used to restart the company’s manufacturing line and transfer intellectual property rights for the pyrophoric decoys to the DOD. A small portion of the $45 million was awarded up front and the remainder will be spent across the next five years.