The Royal Canadian Air Force has chosen Northrop Grumman Corp. to provide IR missile protection on its fleet of CH-147F Chinook helicopters. The latest generation of the company’s directional IR countermeasures (DIRCM) system protects the Chinook and its crew by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it's a threat, and activating a high-intensity laser to track and shoot down the missile. Developed by Northrop Grumman and Selex ES, the systems are installed or scheduled for installation on more than 1000 military aircraft around the world to protect 55 types of large fixed-wing transports and rotary-wing platforms from missile attacks.