Brian, since (and during) WWII military combat aircraft have used "chaff",
which is basically pieces of aluminum foil cut to specific length to match the
characteristics of the enemy Radar, to fool the enemy into not being able to
tell which radar return is actually the airplane. It is especially effective
in confusing radar guided missiles. Combat a/c also carry flares to help
confuse heatseeking missiles. And submarines (according to Tom Clancy!) carry
noise making decoys to confuse torpedoes. But the most effective defense is
still a wide awake crew. During Vietnam one of our recon planes (RA-5C
Vigilante) made a sudden right bank to elude a ground to air missile, and
accidentally got a spectacular photo of the missile exploding where they had
been fractions of a second before. I believe the flight surgeon issued some
medicinal brandy to that crew that night! Bob K in PHX, AZ
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