Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review, March 19, 2021

Major hypersonic missile testing on the horizon

The Air Force is preparing for its first booster test flight (BTF-1) operational speeds and collect other important data. In addition to simulated glide vehicle. The simulated glider will not sustain flight,
of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), booster performance, the test vehicle will also validate safe separa- and will safely disintegrate soon after separation. The 412th Test
expected in the next 30 days. tion and controllability of the missile away from the carrier B-52H, Wing will conduct the ARRW BTF series over the Point Mugu Sea
Following delivery of the ARRW test missile to Edwards Air through ignition and boost phase, all the way up to separation of a Range in California.
Force Base, Calif., March 1, 2021, and loading on a B-52H Stra-
tofortress, immediate work began on pre-flight ground tests and
checks to obtain certification for the flight to proceed as scheduled.
“The BTF-1 test vehicle is complete and is progressing through
ground testing to verify its readiness for flight. The team has suc-
cessfully dealt with COVID challenges and resolved technical
findings not uncommon in a first-of-a-kind weapon system. We
have minimized schedule delays while maintaining a laser focus on
engineering rigor. Our first BTF will happen in the next 30 days,
followed by several additional booster and all-up-round test flights
by the end of the year,” said Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, Air Force
Program Executive Officer for Weapons.
The ARRW program is a rapid prototyping project that will lever-
age cutting edge technologies to deliver a conventional hypersonic
weapons capability to the warfighter in the early 2020s. The weapon
system provides combatant commanders the capability to destroy
high-value, time-sensitive targets. ARRW expands precision-strike
weapon systems’ capabilities by enabling survivable rapid response
strikes against heavily defended targets.
The Air Force designed the ARRW booster test vehicle to achieve
the high speeds necessary to deliver the ARRW glide vehicle and
embedded ordnance package to designated targets required by U.S.
combatant commanders. The ARRW program followed a rigorous
systems engineering process with extensive ground and flight test
campaigns to ensure a well-executed BTF event; BTF-1 will be the
eighth flight test for the ARRW program, following seven captive
carriage flight tests.
To ensure ARRW is mature for a production decision, the Air
Force and Lockheed Martin took deliberate steps to achieve a high
level of manufacturing readiness. Assembly of the ARRW booster Air Force photograph by Matt Williams
test vehicle on production-representative manufacturing lines is a A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Aug. 8, 2020. The
major step toward this production readiness goal. aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon Instrumented Measurement
The ARRW BTF-1 will demonstrate the booster’s ability to reach Vehicle 2 hypersonic prototype at the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Southern California coast.

WE’RE ALL IN

THIS TOGETHER.

At Kaiser Permanente, we don’t see
health as an industry. We see it as a
cause. And one that we very much
believe in. During this extraordinary
time we are especially thankful to the
heroism of our frontline workers. And,
we would like to express our deepest
gratitude to all of our outstanding care
teams and individuals who deliver on
the Kaiser Permanente mission each
day to improve the health of our
members and the communities we
serve. We are here to help you thrive.
Learn more at kp.org.

Aerotech News and Review
March 19, 2021 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview 7