Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug. 6, 2021

X-57 concludes high-voltage testing
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NASA photograph by Lauren Hughes
NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell concluded high-voltage ground testing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The principal goals of the X-57 Project are to share the X-57 design and airworthiness process with regulators and standards organizations; and to establish the X-57 as a reference platform for integrated approaches of distributed electric propulsion technologies.
by Sarah Mann
NASA Armstrong
NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell has com- pleted another milestone toward first flight; the successful completion of high-voltage testing.
High-voltage testing powers the aircraft from an auxiliary power supply to test the functionality of the integrated systems under full power.
A highlight from high-voltage testing included the spinning of the propellers for the first time un- der electric power. Though the propellers had pre- viously spun during the X-57’s initial build phase conducted by the small business prime contractor Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. at Scaled Com- posites in Mojave, it is now up to NASA engineers to advance the system and use lessons learned from previous tests. The propellers are powered by elec-
tric cruise motors, which will also be used to power the X-57 in flight.
A principal goal of the X-57 project is to share the X-57 design and airworthiness process with regulators and standards organizations. Another goal is to establish the X-57 as a reference plat- form for integrated approaches of distributed elec- tric propulsion technologies. Next up, X-57 will undergo verification and validation testing.
AF conducts latest hypersonic flight test
The Air Force conducted its second AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon booster flight test July 28, 2021.
While it did not meet all flight objectives, the test demonstrated sev- eral first-time events as the program continues to track toward fielding a hypersonic capability in the early 2020s.
Objectives for the test included demonstrating the safe release of the booster test vehicle from the B-52H and assessing booster performance. An Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., FB B-52 released the ARRW test missile, dubbed Booster Test Vehicle 1b or BTV-1b, over Point Mugu Sea Range.
The missile cleanly separated from the aircraft and successfully dem- onstrated the full release sequence including GPS acquisition, umbilical disconnect and power transfer from the aircraft to the missile. The mis- sile also demonstrated fin operation and de-confliction maneuvers which ensures a safe operation for the aircrew.
Following the safe separation maneuvers, the rocket motor did not ignite. The ARRW team continues to progress through the rapid prototyp- ing effort with a steadfast commitment to the well-being of Airmen and equipment, striking a balance between prudent risk and rapid advance- ment of the program.
“Developing first-of-its-kind missiles is difficult business and this is why we test,” said Brig. Gen. Heath Collins, the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons. “This is a critical capability for our Air Force and we have the very best team working to figure out what happened, fix it and move out to deliver ARRW to our warfighters as quickly as possible.”
The Edwards-based 419th Flight Test Squadron and the Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force were involved in the testing.
The ARRW program aims to deliver a conventional hypersonic weap- ons capability to the warfighter in the early 2020s. The weapon system
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is designed to provide the ability to destroy high-value, time-sensitive targets. It will also expand precision-strike weapon systems’ capabilities by enabling rapid response strikes against heavily defended land targets.
Air Force photograph by Matt Williams
A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Aug. 8, 2021. The aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon Instrumented Measurement Vehicle 2 hypersonic prototype at the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Southern California coast.
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