The new civilian aircraft system was created by the Israeli defense firm Elbit System (its headquarters shown here). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A new civilian aircraft system that protects against shoulder-launched missiles — created by the Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems — successfully passed a demonstration in Germany for NATO last month, according to a company report issued Monday.

A NATO team conducted the test of the Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) systems, which is integrated with the advanced Passive Airborne Warning System (PAWS) IR based missile warning system, and the results proved its “capability to detect, acquire, track and jam the trial test equipment on the ground, under extreme conditions,” the report said.

The DIRCM system can jam man-portable air defense systems or infra-red, ground to air heat-seeking man-portable missiles that would potentially be used to shoot down jets. The test was demonstrated on an Airbus C295 aircraft.