According to the Department of Defense Test and Evaluation Office, a lack of available infrastructure and data collection tools are impacting the Air Force’s Air Launched Ready Weapons (ARRW) testing campaign.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the ARRW is a boost-glide missile that uses a rocket motor to reach hypersonic speeds of over Mach 5. Hypersonic aircraft are also designed to be highly maneuverable during flight, making them difficult to intercept by enemy air defense systems.
ARRW is just one of several hypersonic weapons in development across the Pentagon and continues to compete with other military programs for access to appropriate test and evaluation infrastructure, the Pentagon said. says the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E)’s 2023 Annual Report. ), published last week.
“The program’s flight test schedule continues to be challenged by the limited availability and number of hypersonic flight corridors, target areas, and test support assets,” the document states. “In order to continue system development efforts, the Air Force has conducted impact flight tests over a wide range of ocean areas, which has limited the amount of data collected for terminal flights and impact measurements (lethality assessments). It was restricted.”
In December 2022, the Air Force began what contractor Lockheed Martin called a “very aggressive” schedule for ARRW development and testing, with the goal of having the missile in production by fiscal year 2024. Up Round (AUR) test by firing a live missile warhead from a B-52H Stratofortress bomber at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The Air Force said the first test was successful, and a DOT&E report showed the missile successfully completed all stages of flight. However, the new report also adds that the service was unable to collect data measuring the warhead’s functionality and effectiveness due to a “technical failure” of sensors at the test site.
“Due to the failure of these sensor systems, it is unclear whether the glider and warhead functioned as expected during the final stages of the flight,” the document said.
The program’s fate came to a head after Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told lawmakers that ARRW’s second test, held in March 2023, was deemed a failure. As a result, the service will focus more on its other hypersonic weapons program, known as the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), he said.
Details about the March test failure are vague, but a new DOT&E report emphasizes that the missile itself was successfully launched from a B-52 and early data indicates a successful flight of the vehicle and detonation of the warhead. ing. However, “AUR believes that during booster glide vehicle separation, the shroud was not fully ejected correctly and one of the two shroud ejector motors was not firing, resulting in the failure,” the document states. Are listed.
This failure prevented the service from collecting glide and terminal phase data during the flight test. The service added “ejector motor continuity verification” to avoid future failures, the report said.
The Air Force subsequently conducted two more AUR tests of the weapon, one in August 2023 and one in October 2023. The Air Force did not provide details on whether they were considered successful, instead claiming that each “obtained valuable weapons.” It was proprietary data and was intended to advance various programs such as ARRW and hypersonic attack cruise missiles. ”
The report indicates that initial data from the August test shows the missile reached nominal conditions during flight and warhead detonation. Data from the October AUR inspection conducted at the beginning of FY2024 was not provided by the Secretariat.
Going forward, the Air Force has two remaining AUR flight tests budgeted for fiscal year 2024 that will impact land targets rather than maritime targets. But the report notes that his last two tests may not be enough.
“Given the limited number of planned test events, there is a risk that the test program will not be able to demonstrate the lethal effects of ARRW against the necessary tactical and strategic objectives,” the report said. Ta. It added that due to limited scheduled flight hours and test assets, the current testing phase likely will not allow a full assessment of the missile’s operational suitability.
DOT&E recommends the Air Force submit a final Operational Demonstration Plan to the agency for approval before conducting the final two budgeted AUR flight tests in fiscal year 2024. doing. As of this writing, this service has not yet been enabled. -A record response to DefenseScoop’s inquiries about whether the documents were filed.
The agency also proposes to “validate, validate, and qualify” modeling and simulation tools that the Air Force plans to use to assess ARRW’s lethality and survivability against surface-to-air missile systems and anti-aircraft batteries. . Report.
