Raytheon Deploys Miniature Air Launched Decoys From C-130 Cargo Aircraft: "Raytheon launched two Miniature Air Launched Decoy instrumented shapes from the ramp of a C-130 Hercules equipped with the new Raytheon-funded MALD Cargo Air Launched System (MCALS). This test marked the first deployment of a MALD airframe from a cargo aircraft.
MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300 pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles (about 575 statute miles). The current MALD family includes both the baseline MALD and a stand-in jammer variant called the MALD-J.
'Dispensing the MALD family of weapons from cargo aircraft gives warfighters an important new capability they currently don't have in today's high-threat environment,' said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems product line. 'MCALS opens the door for the non-traditional use of a high-capacity aircraft to deliver hundreds of MALDs during a single combat sortie.'"
