DECOY PLANE ABLE TO FOOL RADAR SET FOR FLIGHT TESTING.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

A miniature jet aircraft intended to deceive enemy radar operators into thinking a warplane is attacking will be flight tested beginning this summer.

Less than eight feet long and intended to be carried to the battle zone by a fighter plane, the Miniature Air Launched Decoy carries an electronic device that increases its radar signature - the image it creates on radar screens - to deceive enemy air defense systems.

``Once a fighter launches it the enemy operator would see many aircraft and he won't know which is real or which are decoys,'' said Capt. Jim Sturim, test project manager. ``We can overpower them with sheer numbers. They will be confused and won't know who to shoot at.''

The MALDs could also be used to run a fake air attack, diverting the enemy's air defense resources away from a real attack striking at another place, Sturim said.

MALD is a program of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the same agency that launched the stealth fighter program. The agency is spending close to $40 million on the project.

A total of 19 MALDs will be tested. The decoy planes are being manufactured by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego.

Each MALD will be 92 inches long, six inches in diameter and will weigh 98 pounds - about the size of the air-to-air missiles carried under the wings of fighter jets. Each MALD will have a global positioning system and guidance, navigation and flight controls.

Jet powered, the MALD is expected to have a top speed from 552 mph to 621 mph.

The flight test program will look at two aspects of the MALD. One is whether the decoy plane can safely be released from an F-16 fighter. The other is to measure the plane's flight performance, including its range, air speed, and maneuvering abilities.

The plan calls for 16 flights from September to March. A test will typically involve preprogramming the route into the MALD and loading it onto an F-16. The fighter will take the MALD to a launch point and release it.

``The MALD starts up its engine and computer and flies away,'' Sturim said.

At the end of the mission, the MALD will automatically close its fuel valve and deploy a recovery parachute.