Flare (countermeasure)

Flares are commonly composed of a pyrotechnic composition based on magnesium or another hot-burning metal, with burning temperature equal to or hotter than engine exhaust.

Since IR-guided missiles have a shorter range than their radar-guided counterparts, good situational awareness of altitude and potential threats continues to be an effective defense.

The aircraft would then pull away at a sharp angle from the flare (and the terminal trajectory of the missile) and reduce engine power in attempt to cool the thermal signature.

Ideally the missile's seeker head is then confused by this change in temperature and flurry of new heat signatures, and starts to follow one of the flares rather than the aircraft.

A newer procedure involves preemptively deploying flares in anticipation of a missile launch, which distorts the expected image of the target should one be let loose.

Michael "Mob" Tremel flying a F/A-18E Super Hornet used an AMRAAM AAM to successfully destroy the enemy aircraft.

IR missiles seek out the hotter flame, believing it to be an aircraft in afterburner or the beginning of the engine's exhaust source.

As the more modern infrared seekers tend to have spectral sensitivity tailored to more closely match the emissions of airplanes and reject other sources (the so-called CCM, or counter-countermeasures), the modernized decoy flares have their emission spectrum optimized to also match the radiation of the airplane (mainly its engines and engine exhaust).

[7] Upon ignition of the decoy flare, a strongly exothermal reaction is started, releasing infrared energy and visible smoke and flame, emission being dependent on the chemical nature of the payload used.

Due to volume storage restrictions onboard platforms, many aircraft of American origin use square decoy flare cartridges.

Typical pyrotechnic payloads of this type resemble whistling compositions and are often made up from potassium perchlorate and hydrogen lean organic fuels.

The red phosphorus is mixed with organic binders to give brushable pastes that can be coated on thin polyimide platelets.

An infrared guided AIM-9M Sidewinder missile hitting a flare
A US Army AH-64 Apache releasing decoy flares
Russian Knights fire their flares as a salute to Igor Tkachenko .
A C-130 Hercules deploying flares
C-130 flare and chaff dispensers
HMS Dragon 's Westland Lynx helicopter fires flares during an exercise over the Type 45 destroyer
A Dutch Eurocopter AS532 Cougar fires its flares during a night exercise.
Polish Air Force MiG-29 at the 2014 Rome International Air Show
An F-15E Strike Eagle releasing flares
Schematic view of a MJU-7A/B decoy flare cartridge : anodised aluminium cartridge (1); an electrical impulse cartridge (2), providing both expulsion and, in some cases, direct ignition of the payload; a pusher plate acting as a safe&arm device (3); the payload (4) with first fire layer (5); the wrapping self-adhesive polyester reinforced aluminum foil (6); and a front washer (7).
A sectional of the typical LLU-2B ground-illumination flare