Newly published footage shows an ADM-160 Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD) fitted to a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flanker fighter. The video confirms that the store is used by both the Su-27 and Ukraine’s MiG-29 Fulcrum jets, and also that it is carried on the same specially adapted underwing pylon that is used for various Western-supplied guided munitions.
While the MALD — a small cruise missile-like weapon designed to stimulate, confuse, and distract enemy air defenses, not attack them kinetically — has been seen on several occasions before this, including mounted on a MiG-29, it has never been seen in such detail in Ukrainian hands.
The new evidence appears in an official video released by the Ukrainian Air Force in which aircrews discuss Su-27 operations in the current conflict against the backdrop of the jets being prepared for combat and in flight. A Su-27 is seen on a flight line, with a single MALD carried on each of its inboard underwing hardpoints.
As we observed in the past, the fact that MALD can be loaded with the target data before launch means that it shouldn’t have been a huge challenge to integrate it on Ukrainian platforms — first the MiG-29, now the Su-27. At the same time, we can see that it’s mounted on the same specialized pylon that has been seen in the past loaded with the French-made Hammer rocket-boosted precision-guided bomb and U.S.-supplied JDAM-ER glide bombs, for example. As TWZ has explained in the past, this pylon is understood to help cue GPS-assisted guidance systems. The pylon transfers the precise location to the weapon at launch, since the Soviet-era jet lacks the databus or embedded GPS to provide that information, which is critical to the weapon’s navigation system. The same kind of pylon can be assumed to have a direct utility in support of the MALD as well.
In addition to specialized pylons, new cockpit displays have also helped expand the operational flexibility of Western-supplied weapons. They likely also help support MALD missions, too.
The Flanker in the new video is also seen in the air. Interestingly, it doesn’t carry any other disposable weapons aside from the two MALDs. This is in accordance with the MiG-29 that we have seen in the past with a pair of MALDs. Whether this is because a training mission is being shown is unclear. Certainly, with a weight of around 300 pounds each, a Su-27 would be able to carry several air-to-air missiles or air-to-ground weapons alongside the decoys, if required.
The first evidence of the MALD being in Ukrainian service came in May 2023, when wreckage from one of the decoys was found after an apparent airstrike in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, as you can read about here.
By the end of 2023, more wreckage had appeared, on this occasion when one of the decoys was discovered, reportedly somewhere in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine.
Since its introduction, MALD has played an important role for the Ukrainian Air Force, providing a new way of distracting and confusing Russian air defenses, which means that Ukrainian missiles and strike packages have a better chance of getting to their targets.
Each MALD is powered by a small turbojet, which can be seen covered with a cap in the new video. This falls away once the decoy is launched, after which it flies along a pre-programmed route. The store is also able to loiter over target areas, maximizing its effect on air defenses in the area.
For long, we have known that MALD is of particular value during Ukrainian air-launched cruise missile strikes, which primarily involve the Storm Shadow (supplied by the United Kingdom and Italy) as well as its French equivalent, the SCALP EG. The MALD is well-suited to this mission, offering a range of around 500 miles, which also gives it significant loiter time.
As one Su-27 pilot explains in the new video:
“These missiles [sic] are designed to bear the brunt of the air defenses, to provide distractions. This missile is a decoy for the air defense systems. At the same time, at another airfield, our comrades are programming Storm Shadow or SCALP missiles to strike the enemy. In cooperation with the strike groups during such operations, we use HARM anti-radar missiles.”
A Ukrainian MiG-29 firing a HARM anti-radiation missile:
It’s no coincidence that MALD began to appear in the conflict around the same time that the first Storm Shadow attacks occurred, and in the same areas. In support of cruise missile strikes, the decoy offers a more obvious radar signature than the weapon, drawing the fire from enemy air defenses and protecting the missile.
MALD is just one factor that can help ensure the success of a Storm Shadow or SCALP EG strike. These missiles also have low-observable features, meaning that many air defense sensors will only detect them once it’s too late — if at all. Air force planners will also carefully prepare routes for the missiles to better avoid known enemy air defense positions.
As well as providing direct support for particular air-launched cruise missile strikes, the presence of MALD helps the Ukrainian military more generally. By employing it against Russian air defenses — especially some of the newest and most capable systems — valuable intelligence can be gained. This can then be fed back to mission planners and electronic warfare specialists. Almost certainly, this information will be fed back to the United States, too.
The appearance of MALD on the Su-27 may not be a surprise, but it’s certainly interesting to see this rather secretive store in hitherto unseen detail while in Ukrainian hands. At the same time, the video underscores the huge value of this weapon as the Ukrainian Air Force continues to press home its attacks on a vastly numerically superior enemy.
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