ALE-50

AN/ALE-50 expendable electronic warfare decoys are towed behind aircraft, typically under the control of an AN/ALQ-184. They are being superceded, on high-performance aircraft such as the B-1 "Bone" and F-18 Super Hornet, by the AN/ALE-55, which can be used while the protected aircraft is maneuvering at supersonic speed; the ALE-50 also has to rely on its own onboard electronics while the ALE-55 can take more sophisticated programming via a fiber optic cable from the towing airplane.

More than 22,000 have been shipped, at a unit cost of approximately $22,000. They are employed on F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1, and F-18 aircraft.

It is made by Raytheon. There is a specific launcher for each aircraft type; depending on the type, an aircraft carries 3 to 8 decoys. They have been used in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and by the Israeli Air Force.