Land Electronic Defense System (LEDS)

First, the advantages of choosing a LEDS system

• Guaranteed growth path
• Modular and scaleable.
• Integrated design concept
• Full-spectrum survivability through layered automated defence
• Significant cost and weight saving over other means of protection
• Suitable for urban operations with very short-range defence capability
• Minimal collateral effect
• Minimal TTP changes required
• Active-signature-management capability also offers external fire protection and contamination reduction
• Overmatches current and emerging anti-armour threats

LEDS-50 – Laser detectio
LEDS-50 is designed to provide crews with vitally important situational awareness of laser emissions associated with anti-armour threats and allow rapid countermeasure response. It forms the basic building block of the Land Electronic Defence System (LEDS) and comprises of an Active Defence Controller (ADC), and a number of laser warning sensors.LEDS-50 provides 360° azimuth coverage of a platform by using four LWS-310 sensors. Full hemispherical coverage and anti-reflection capability can be provided by adding a LWS-500 top attack and anti-reflection sensor.The active signature management subsystem can be added to any of the LEDS versions to provide dynamic external fire protection while moving at speeds of up to 60 km/hr.

Features/LEDS-100 – Soft-kill
LEDS-100 is a soft-kill system developed for land vehicle survivability enhancement. The system consists of a central Active Defence Controller a number of laser-warning sensors, a High-Speed Directed Launcher (HSDL) and fast multi-spectral smoke.

By means of the HSDL, LEDS-100 denies a threat the opportunity to effectively engage the protected system by interfering with acquisition, tracking, ranging, weapons launch, or guidance. This is achieved by using a combination of sensors, multi-spectral smoke and, where requested by the customer, the inclusion of an infrared jammer lamp against second-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM).

The soft-kill controller senses which launcher tubes are loaded and controls and fires the smoke grenades intelligently, taking into consideration the wind conditions, threat direction and vehicle directional motion relative to the threat.

The countermeasure deployment can be selected to be manual or fully automatic. The laser warning sensors will detect the threat direction and the controller will execute the appropriate selected countermeasure actions to defend the platform against the detected threats.

The system can also control the firing of existing fixed smoke launcher tubes that are fitted to most combat vehicles today.

LEDS-150 – Hard-kill
LEDS-150 is a progression of the LEDS-100 active defence system.  It typically consists of laser-warning sensors (LWS), an Active Defence Controller (ADC-150), a combination of passive and active Sensors and High-Speed Directed Launchers (HSDL).  This allows the combined application of active signature management, soft- and hard-kill countermeasure deployment capability to the platform.  Also included in the suite are optional displays and special-to-installation interconnecting harnesses.

The hard-kill feature of the LEDS-150 product is characterised by its capability to physically destroy the efficiency of the terminal ballistic capability of attacking munitions without residual penetration of the protected vehicle.

The hard-kill system detects and tracks multiple threats and calculates whether the attacking munitions will hit the platform or not. The system determines the best inertial intercept position and provides the slew and firing commands to the launchers.

The Mongoose-1 countermeasure missile is launched at a predetermined time to intercept and neutralise the detected munitions off-board at a distance of between 5–15 m from the vehicle to minimise collateral damage to own forces.

Source: Saab Group