OVERVIEW: DLF(3) is an expendable, passive RF decoy designed for ship-based anti-missile defense. It deploys inflatable corner-reflector decoys to seduce and distract radar-guided anti-ship missiles by mimicking ship-like radar signatures.

DETAILS: DLF(3), also known as the Outfit DLF(3b) or FDS3/Mk 59, is a floating decoy system manufactured by Irvin GQ (now part of Airborne Systems) and used by the Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal New Zealand Navy. It is housed in deck-mounted launch tubes and, once expelled via compressed gas, self-inflates into an octahedral radar reflector that floats freely. The decoy offers persistent deception, floating for up to three hours in sea state 4 while presenting a radar cross section comparable to a ship.

FUNCTION:
It is launched from deck-mounted inflatable-decoy tubes.
Once deployed, it self-inflates and floats off the stern.
This produces a false radar target that seduces and distracts incoming radar-guided missiles away from the ship.

Platforms: Used aboard Royal Navy Type 23 and Type 45 frigates, U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke destroyers (as Mk 59), Royal Canadian Halifax-class frigates, and Royal New Zealand Anzac-class vessels.

SOURCE:
Army Recognition: https://www.armyrecognition.com/navy_news_2019/uk_to_get_new_passive_offboard_decoy_system.html ; Free Online Library: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/A%2Bnew%2Bgeneration%2Bof%2Badvanced%2Bdecoys+throws+its+hat+in+the+ring.-a070911906 ; Military Technology 02/2023: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Naval%2Bsoft-kill%2Btechnologies.-a0420781600 ; DSEI Show Daily: https://studylib.net/doc/18588467/dsei-show-daily ; Naval Decoy IDS300 wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Decoy_IDS300