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Smart missiles that use radar and infrared to home in on their targets can be
fooled by a form of high-tech chaff, according to Buck Neue Technologien of
Neuenburg (GB 2355783). When it senses an approaching missile, the target fires
decoy missiles that release a 20-metre-wide cloud of tiny infrared flares mixed
with metallised glass-fibre “chaff”. The flares confuse the missile’s infrared
sensors and fall faster than the chaff, creating a thermal updraught. This
causes the chaff to align at right angles to the missile’s trajectory, making
the cloud look like a solid body that the missile mistakes for the target.