MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy has successfully test-fired its newly acquired Bullfighter chaff decoy — designed to serve as a decoy to deflect enemy missiles.
The tests onboard South Korean-built frigates BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) took place in the vicinity waters off Zambales last March 24.
“The Bullfighter is a new generation of 130 mm decoys for Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaffs and other 130 mm launcher systems to protect naval vessels up to the size of frigates against antiship missiles,” the Navy said in a statement on Tuesday.
The payload of the chaffs is effective “against missiles with modern and sophisticated seekers and electronic protection measure,” it said.
The acquisition of the chaff countermeasure capability, which was awarded to the Rheinmetall Denel Munition, is part of the Horizon 2 of the military’s modernization program.
A post on the Facebook page of BRP Antonio Luna said the chaffs and decoys in modern naval warfare are meant “to confuse radar-guided or infrared-guided missiles fired so they could be diverted.”