Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug. 4 2017

B-52, from 1
The dispenser bomb can be dropped from helicopters and fighter jets, and now the 419th is trying to see if the B-52 fleet can be used as well.
“The PDU-5/B is just another tool that the B-52 uses in its vast and reliable tool box,” said Earl Johnson, B-52 PDU-5/B project manager. “Without the capabil- ity to carry PDU-5s on the B-52 aircraft,
the impending shortfall on leaflet dis- persal capability will jeopardize Air Force Central Command information operations.”
Johnson said testing the PDU-5/B on the B-52 is complete for now. The pro- gram is forecasted to return at a future date to test PDU-5/B releases from the B-52’s internal weapons bay.
A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., flies with eight PDU-5/B leaflet bombs connected to an external Heavy Stores Adapter Beam.
Air Force photograph by Christopher Okula
Air Force photograph by Christopher Okula
A B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., with eight PDU-5/B leaflet bombs underneath the left wing. The PDU-5/B is a repurposed Cluster Bomb Unit used to release leaflets (paper cut into a specific size). Leaflets are generally dropped during U.S. military psychological operations overseas. When released from the aircraft, a fuse is set to a certain time to tell the bomb to detonate and release the leaflets.
418th FLTS supports MDA test success
by Kenji Thuloweit
Edwards AFB, Calif.
A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 418th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., air-launched a ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii July 11, 2017.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system located at Pacific Spaceport Com- plex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, detected, tracked and intercepted the target. Preliminary indications are that planned flight test objectives were achieved and the threat-representative, intermediate-range ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted by the THAAD weapon system, according to the Missile Defense Agency.
The test, designated Flight Test THAAD (FTT)- 18, was executed by MDA, supported by elements of the U.S. Army, Joint Forces Component Com- mand for Integrated Missile Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, Pacific Spaceport Com- plex Alaska, Ballistic Missile Defense Operational Test Agency, DoD Operational Test and Evalua- tion, and the Army Test and Evaluation Command.
“The 418th is proud to provide best-in-the- world, test airdrop support to the Missile Defense Agency,” said Lt. Col. Paul Calhoun, 418th FLTS commander. “We have cultivated unique airdrop capabilities and a relationship over the past few years culminating in this recent successful test.”
An MDA press release said this was the 14th successful intercept in 14 attempts for the THAAD weapon system. The THAAD element provides a globally-transportable, rapidly-deployable capa- bility to intercept ballistic missiles inside or out- side the atmosphere during their final, or terminal, phase of flight. The MDA says THAAD is strictly a defense system. The system uses hit-to-kill technology whereby kinetic energy destroys the incoming target. The high-altitude intercept miti- gates effects of enemy weapons before they reach the ground.
The 418th FLTS has supported these MDA tests over the years.
August 4, 2017
“The 418th is the only organization on Earth capable of airdropping MDA’s largest and most capable ballistic test missiles providing a vital ex- amination of U.S. strategic defense assets,” said Calhoun. “These flight test profiles are extremely demanding requiring countless hours of careful planning and build-up testing over the last year. All of that is worth it though when you watch that
missile drop out of an airplane and then launch into space, particularly knowing that the test is support- ing the noble end goal of protecting the homeland.”
Soldiers from the Army’s 11th Air Defense Ar- tillery Brigade conducted launcher, fire control and radar operations using the same procedures they would use in an actual combat scenario. Soldiers operating the equipment were not aware of the ac-
tual target launch time.
The successful demonstration of THAAD
against an IRBM-range missile threat bolsters the country’s defensive capability against devel- oping missile threats in North Korea and other countries around the globe and contributes to the broader strategic deterrence architecture, said the MDA release.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, during Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18 July 11, 2017. During the test, the THAAD weapon system successfully intercepted an air-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile target.
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MDA photograph