Investigation of rotating pyrotechnical decoy in realistic air flow with authentic ignition

Protection of military aircrafts requires effective decoys as a countermeasure against heat seeker guided missiles. Preservation of the effectiveness of pyrotechnical decoys needs continuous improvement to compensate sensor evolution. For the assessment of decoy properties it is essential to conduct investigations in conditions close to operational decoy firings. For this purpose Fraunhofer ICT built a test facility that imitates realistic flow velocities, enables the application of the original ignition sequence and simulates the tumbling motion of a burning decoy body. The applied method is a simple and economic way to characterize essential properties of new decoy compositions in an early state of development. This paper presents the current state of the ICT test facility for spectroscopic investigations of burning pyrotechnical decoys.