Leonardo pushes BriteStorm into US tests with Tekever AR3, Stand-in jammer heads to Pentagon trials
Got it — here’s the article with main keywords bolded for emphasis.
Leonardo is advancing its electronic-attack ambitions in the United States by demonstrating the BriteStorm stand-in jammer carried on Tekever’s 25-kg AR3 long-endurance UAS. The company has begun U.S. demonstrations as it seeks entry to the market through the Pentagon’s Foreign Comparative Test (FCT) programme, according to Leonardo officials.
Mark Randall, campaign manager for electronic warfare at Leonardo’s electronics business, described BriteStorm as a compact, stand-in jamming payload designed to operate forward of crewed platforms to suppress integrated air-defence systems (IADS) and create deceptive electronic signatures that complicate enemy targeting. The payload leverages digital radio-frequency memory (DRFM) techniques related to those used in the company’s BriteCloud expendable decoy, enabling spoofing and confusion of radar seekers and tracking systems across relevant RF bands.
The BriteStorm package has been integrated onto Tekever’s AR3 UAS — a small fixed-wing platform with long endurance and a payload bay sized for multi-kilogram electronic-warfare packages. That combination offers repeated, lower-cost sorties to deliver stand-in jamming effects closer to threat nodes than larger crewed platforms can safely operate.
Leonardo is pursuing the U.S. market by positioning BriteStorm for evaluation via the FCT route — the same general pathway that supported earlier acceptance discussions for the company’s BriteCloud decoy and its AN/ALQ-260(V) U.S. designation. Company leaders argue BriteStorm can complement existing crewed jammers by providing distributed, lower-risk jamming closer to threat systems, enabling allied forces to mass effects while protecting higher-value assets.
The move ties into broader momentum for Leonardo’s electronic-warfare portfolio. The company’s BriteCloud expendable decoy has already gained adoption on some U.S. platforms and is being examined for further service integrations, driving conversations among operators of modern fighter fleets about fleetwide fielding. Concurrently, Leonardo is evolving the BriteCloud family — maintaining the rectangular 218 form factor while developing a higher-power cylindrical 55-mm BriteCloud 55T, intended to deliver greater emission power against emerging seeker types and expected to reach frontline readiness soon.
Analysts and industry observers note the operational appeal of an attritable, UAS-borne jammer like BriteStorm: distributed and lower-cost platforms can create massed electronic effects, complicating modern IADS through coordinated spoofing and jamming. Demonstrations that prove reliable integration, survivability, and measurable effect against representative threats in U.S. testing would strengthen Leonardo’s case for procurement and wider adoption among NATO and partner customers.
Leonardo plans additional demonstrations in the U.S. and across Europe as it seeks partners for trials and potential operational use. The company says it will continue to update both hardware and RF libraries so the BriteStorm system — together with the expanding BriteCloud family — remains effective as radar and missile seekers evolve. For now, the combination of a proven small UAS host (Tekever AR3), a DRFM heritage from BriteCloud, and targeted U.S. testing forms the backbone of Leonardo’s bid to replicate its earlier decoy success with a stand-in jammer offering.
