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From Inside Defense:
A "testbed" Army missile system featuring a unique gel propulsion engine made a successful inaugural flight last month at Eglin AFB, FL, according to the service and propulsion system builder TRW.
After repeated program delays over the past two years, the testbed missile got off the ground on March 30. Fired from a TOW launcher on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the "gel propulsion smart tactical missile prototype" flew a pre-programmed path to a target five miles away and impacted less than 90 feet from the designated point, according to Aviation and Missile Command and TRW statements.
A second flight test is planned for this summer.
The Future Missile Technology Integration program is designed for experiments with new missile technologies that could be incorporated into future missile designs. The current set of FMTI technologies are also being developed for use in a Modernized Hellfire missile.
The gel propulsion system is a key focus of the FMTI program. With a gelatin-like consistency that can be stored like a solid but flows like a liquid when pressurized, gel propellant is considered safer than liquids and can be controlled more easily than solids, enabling missiles with gel propulsions systems to execute a wide range of maneuvers including shutting down and restarting during flight (Inside the Army, Dec. 21, 1998, p5).
During last month's 51-second flight, the motor fired five times, according to a statement from engine builder TRW Inc. of Redondo Beach, CA.
The launch also successfully tested a new high-bandwidth, bi-directional RF datalink, according to an AMCOM statement. "The FMTI datalink transmits high-resolution digital imagery from the missile seeker to the launch platform during flight at data rates which support advanced digital image processing on the launch platform," the statement reads.
Initial delays in testing the system were the result of new technology developments with the gel rocket, the autotracker and datalink (Inside the Army, Sept. 21, 1998, p7). That was followed by technical difficulties in December, complicated further by holiday leave. January tests were put off again when the range at Eglin was not available (ITA, Feb. 8, p5).
This summer's second flight will test an Imaging Infrared sensor developed by Raytheon as well as the FMTI autotracker and Automatic Target Recognition system, according to AMCOM. It will fly a lock-on-before mission until at a reasonable distance from target, at which point it will break lock and assume a lock-on-after launch and search-for-target mission.
The FMTI program was first known as the Army Combined Arms Weapons System, or TACAWS, but the name was changed to better reflect its purpose (Inside the Army, Dec. 23, 1996, p5). -- Kim Burger
A "testbed" Army missile system featuring a unique gel propulsion engine made a successful inaugural flight last month at Eglin AFB, FL, according to the service and propulsion system builder TRW.
After repeated program delays over the past two years, the testbed missile got off the ground on March 30. Fired from a TOW launcher on a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the "gel propulsion smart tactical missile prototype" flew a pre-programmed path to a target five miles away and impacted less than 90 feet from the designated point, according to Aviation and Missile Command and TRW statements.
A second flight test is planned for this summer.
The Future Missile Technology Integration program is designed for experiments with new missile technologies that could be incorporated into future missile designs. The current set of FMTI technologies are also being developed for use in a Modernized Hellfire missile.
The gel propulsion system is a key focus of the FMTI program. With a gelatin-like consistency that can be stored like a solid but flows like a liquid when pressurized, gel propellant is considered safer than liquids and can be controlled more easily than solids, enabling missiles with gel propulsions systems to execute a wide range of maneuvers including shutting down and restarting during flight (Inside the Army, Dec. 21, 1998, p5).
During last month's 51-second flight, the motor fired five times, according to a statement from engine builder TRW Inc. of Redondo Beach, CA.
The launch also successfully tested a new high-bandwidth, bi-directional RF datalink, according to an AMCOM statement. "The FMTI datalink transmits high-resolution digital imagery from the missile seeker to the launch platform during flight at data rates which support advanced digital image processing on the launch platform," the statement reads.
Initial delays in testing the system were the result of new technology developments with the gel rocket, the autotracker and datalink (Inside the Army, Sept. 21, 1998, p7). That was followed by technical difficulties in December, complicated further by holiday leave. January tests were put off again when the range at Eglin was not available (ITA, Feb. 8, p5).
This summer's second flight will test an Imaging Infrared sensor developed by Raytheon as well as the FMTI autotracker and Automatic Target Recognition system, according to AMCOM. It will fly a lock-on-before mission until at a reasonable distance from target, at which point it will break lock and assume a lock-on-after launch and search-for-target mission.
The FMTI program was first known as the Army Combined Arms Weapons System, or TACAWS, but the name was changed to better reflect its purpose (Inside the Army, Dec. 23, 1996, p5). -- Kim Burger
