Forum: Technology

USAF reveals airborne live-firing trials of ramjet missile
-- Robert Hewson, Jane's Air-Launched Weapons Editor London

Airborne live-firing trials have been revealed of a hitherto unseen United States ramjet-powered air-to-surface weapon.

Under the Higher-Speed Anti-radiation missile Demonstration (HSAD) programme, ATK and the US Navy (USN) have combined a ramjet motor with the dual-mode seeker developed for the AGM-88E advanced anti-radiation guided missile (AARGM). The HSAD is a parallel effort to the other various SEAD (suppression of enemy air defences) systems evolving in the US
today. It has been quietly under development as a USN-led effort since 2002. The HSAD project's aim is to produce a new 'smart' very-high-speed and long-range missile to attack enemy air defences and time-critical targets.

An HSAD test vehicle was fired on 9 January over the White Sands Missile Range by an unmanned QF-4G Phantom full-scale aerial target (FSAT) drone operated by Detachment 1 (Det 1), 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron,
based at Holloman Air Force Base.
...
The HSAD is a co-operative effort between the USN High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) programme office (PMA-242), ATK and the US Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate. It incorporates an
ATK active/passive radar seeker with an Aerojet MARC-290 variable-flow ducted rocket (VFDR) ramjet.

In 2002 Science and Applied Technologies Inc (now ATK) was given the primary task of providing a new integral nozzleless rocket, VFDR propulsion and a steering control subsystem for the HSAD forebody vehicle section, derived from an AGM-88. The VFDR itself was built by ARC (now Aerojet) under a 42-month contract to deliver three ramjet vehicles to serve as testbeds for the dual-mode anti-radiation seeker. A demanding
requirement for the ramjet was that it delivers an operation time of more than 850 seconds. HSAD also received funding for ramjet fuel technology and
insensitive munitions development.
...
A 2006 Office of Naval Research brief described the HSAD as an M 3+ weapon with a range of over 100 miles (160 km). The same brief predicted the first test flights in FY06, thus before 30 September 2006, but it
is not clear when trials actually began. Plans for an earlier test shot using a Boeing F/A-18 Hornet appear to have been abandoned; either that, or it remains completely unacknowledged.

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Be nice to see this in the fleet hanging from the Super someday. It would be a nice response weapon to work with ADM-141 TALD and someday MALD when that comes up.

It would be great to get this to drop from a B-1 somehow.

Nice to see something in the works since ALARM was canceled,due to lack of funding.

Seems that this missile is being claimed as the AGM-88E AARGM developed by the USN and tested by the USAF ...

[Link pending approval]

Air-to-ground missile launched from drone
1/21/2008 - HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, [Link pending approval] (AFPN) -- For the first time, an air-to-ground missile was launched from a full-scale aerial target drone, or FSAT. The test was performed Jan. 9 by Airmen here with Detachment 1 of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron.

The FSAT is an unmanned QF-4 Phantom drone that was operated by remote control from a ground station, said Maj. John Markle, the detachment's operations officer.

"This is the first air-to-ground missile fired off an unmanned full-scale aerial target," said Major Markle. "This test is an important part of the Det. 1 mission because it increases survivability of our Airmen going against (surface-to-air missile) threats. Furthermore, it's the first time the drone has been able to shoot back.

"It makes airpower more lethal," said Major Markle. "This is a new high-speed, anti-radiation missile the Navy designed to defeat SAM threats; overall this mission is going to benefit the Department of [Link pending approval];

"With this successful test, we have pioneered a new venue to test forward-firing ordnance without risk to valuable air assets or crew members," said Lt. Col. Joel Rush, Det. 1's commander.

The detachment is currently testing F-35 Lightning components, and has conducted tests for the F-22 Raptor as well as the Patriot and HAWK SAM systems.

Forum: Technology

USAF test fires VFDR missile