BANS has been demonstrated to several armed forces, including the Slovenian Army. (Carboteh)
Slovenia-based Carboteh has developed a manportable system that is designed to stimulate an aircraft's defensive aids suite (DAS).
Speaking to Janes at Eurosatory 2022 in Paris, company representative Domen Vertačnik said that the Battlefield Anti-Aircraft Non-Lethal System (BANS) has been developed in response to its observations of military activity in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Although only under development for a matter of months, Vertačnik said that BANS is a fieldable system as it builds on proven technology from simulation and training specialist Guardiaris, from which Carboteh is a spinoff company.
BANS takes the form factor of a rifle, with a folding stock, foregrip, and Picatinny rail for mounting sights. Vertačnik explained that when the trigger is depressed the system emits a signal that replicates the signature of a surface-to-air missile (SAM), with the intention of spoofing an aircraft's missile approach warning system and initiating its countermeasures. BANS functions against targets out to a range of 5 km.
Vertačnik said that the signal that is emitted mimics a missile's seeker, flight profile, and heat signature; the intention being to force an aircraft to take evasive manoeuvres, create confusion, and ultimately assist real SAMs in engaging aircraft.
The technology for BANS is drawn from that developed by Guardiaris in 2019 to test and validate the missile warning systems onboard Slovenian military helicopters, Vertačnik said.
BANS uses a rechargeable battery pack that enables up to 500 ‘shots' and affords the operator 10 degrees of error in targeting an aircraft, Vertačnik explained.
BANS has been demonstrated to the Hungarian, Portuguese, and Slovenian armed forces, he added.
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