ELGIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (Nov. 16, 2017) - The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center successfully flight tested the Modular Missile Technologies guided forward firing Control Test Vehicle number 1 on Nov. 8.
The flight test, which took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., verified performance of two key elements of the 70-mm diameter missile's modular open systems architecture: the autopilot and the Control Actuation Subsystem.
The AMRDEC flight test crew spent several days setting up and rehearsing for the test. The subject of the flight test was the MMT 70-mm diameter guided forward firing missile designed and built by AMRDEC. Roughly five and half feet long with a modular guidance section and rocket motor, the MMT-70 was loaded in its launch tube and pitched up to allow maximum time of flight. At launch the motor fired with more than a thousand pounds of thrust, and the missile quickly disappeared down range.
"Telemetry data from the MMT-70 showed that the missile successfully performed the expected maneuvers and maintained stable flight throughout," said Daniel Carter, MMT project lead.
MMT is a Science & Technology demonstration program that is developing technologies to support future U.S. Army Aviation air-to-surface missiles. Army Aviation has a broad range of platform types including manned rotary wing and unmanned aerial systems. For this reason the MMT-70 "family" of missiles includes multiple variants of the guided forward firing missile as well as a drop/glide variant. The guided forward firing variants are in the middle of their flight test phase. Flight testing of the drop/glide variant is planned to start late next year.
This flight, labeled CTV-1, was the beginning of the second phase of the guided forward firing flight test program -- the Control Test Vehicle phase. The three prior flight tests were all ballistic with no control surfaces. CTV-1 was designed to begin testing the ability of the MMT-70 to perform controlled maneuvers. The distinguishing characteristics of the CTV phase are the addition of the Control Actuation Subsystem and the autopilot software designed to control the CAS. The CAS has four independently-driven fins and is mounted in the forward section of the CTV-1 missile for canard control. CTV-1 represented a measured first step that used relatively gentle roll, pitch, and yaw commands from the autopilot.
Both the CAS and the autopilot for the MMT-70 were designed from the beginning to support a modular open systems architecture for guided missiles. The benefits of this new guided missile architecture are two-fold. First, the new architecture allows a missile to be developed and changed rapidly. The ability of the MMT autopilot to readily-adapt to multiple configurations is key to enabling this capability. Second, the modular open systems architecture will reduce missile cost by opening up competition at the subsystem level. "The payoff is the ability to keep ahead of the continuously-evolving threat using fewer taxpayer dollars," said Chris Lofts, capability area lead for Aviation Missiles.
Two more CTV flight events, scheduled for later this year, will explore and expand the guided forward firing flight envelope. The CTV series will be followed by the Guided Test Vehicle series.
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U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center is operationally aligned to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, and administratively aligned to the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. This joint alignment established a closely woven research, development, acquisition, and sustainment team to provide increased responsiveness to the nation's Warfighters. AMRDEC has the mission to deliver collaborative and innovative aviation and missile capabilities for responsive and cost-effective research, development and life cycle engineering solutions.
Related Links:
Army.mil: Science and Technology News
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center
Related Links:
Army.mil: Science and Technology News
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center
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