Patent ID: 7028947

Claim:
A deployable and retrievable decoy system for protecting passenger/transport aircraft against man portable, heat seeking missiles, comprising in combination, a) a decoy housing integrated with the aircraft having an aft deployment port; b) a decoy structure stowable within and deployable from the decoy housing via its aft deployment port, the decoy structure including, (i) an annular casing with an inner cylindrical core defining an annular airflow plenum having an upstream end and a downstream end; (ii) normally unfurled radiator petals pivotally secured coaxially around the annular casing of the decoy biased for an unfurled position opening outward from the annular casing, each radiator petal structurally supporting and presenting an array of infrared radiation emitters; (iii) a turbine-alternator means in the cylindrical core of the decoy receiving and converting air streaming through the annular airflow plenum into electrical current for electrically exciting, energizing the arrays of infrared radiation emitters presented by the radiator petals to radiate infrared radiation at peak wavelengths less than 5 microns; and (iv) a tether coupler; and c) a decoy deployment and retrieval mechanism including a tether connecting between the decoy housing and the tether coupler of the decoy structure for deploying, then retrieving and stowing the decoy structure back into the decoy housing, the normally unfurled radiator petals pivoting and furling around the outer annular casing of the decoy structure when stowed within the decoy housing.