Testing Under DARPA OpFires Programme
Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully demonstrated a throttleable second stage for a hypersonic missile during a test conducted in May, DARPA has announced.
The Pentagon’s military research and development incubator oversaw the test firing as part of its Operational Fires (OpFires) project, which is designing and demonstrating new technologies for ground-launched, medium-range hypersonic weapons. The test took place at the US Army’s Redstone Test Center and formed part of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Phase 2 contract with DARPA under the OpFires programme. The company was able to predict motor performance to within 1% of observed results.
The purpose of the test was to demonstrate on-demand thrust termination. Traditionally, rocket stages burn until all fuel is expended; a throttle will permit greater and more accurate trajectory control. DARPA says, when “combined with the booster’s volumetric efficiency, [the throttleable capability] will help the realization of hypersonic missiles that can literally adjust on the fly.”
“The completion of the initial second stage booster test firing is an important step towards the goal of an advanced system able to precisely deliver a variety of conventional payloads to targets over a wide range of distances,” DARPA Program Manager, Lt Col Joshua Stults, stated.
Data from this and further subsequent tests “will be used to complete detailed design of the booster that will be part of missile fabrication, assembly, and flight testing in the OpFires project’s recently initiated Phase 3b,” DARPA said.
