On Aug. 15, the High Speed Anti-radiation Demonstration (HSAD) Project successfully demonstrated the maturity of an integral rocket ramjet (IRR) propulsion system.

The system incorporated nozzleless booster and variable flow ducted rocket ramjet technologies in a controlled test vehicle (CTV) air-launched flight from a QF-4 drone at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The telemetry and optical reports confirmed that the CTV boosted and safely separated from the aircraft, accelerated to supersonic ramjet transition speed, completed all IRR transition events, ignited and maintained controlled ramjet gas generator operations, and maintained supersonic sustain phase flight before being commanded to roll-down toward the ground to be flight terminated to facilitate vehicle recovery. The vehicle maintained stable controlled flight throughout its planned flight profile until its planned termination. All flight test objectives were demonstrated. Initial data analysis and post-test visual inspection of the hardware indicates that the vehicle’s systems performed as designed.

The HSAD Project is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, Air Warfare and Naval Weapons Applications, and has Congressional interest in maturation of propulsion and control technologies. The project’s objective is to flight-test demonstrate a near tactical configured vehicle with an advanced propulsion (i.e., IRR propulsion) and control system focused on increased range, time of flight reductions at critical ranges and compatibility with developing guidance/navigation/control components. The project’s products are an “as-built” design data package and performance simulation models that are validated from component level through vehicle level free flight tests.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake served as the project lead and system integrator for this government-industry team. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. in Ridgecrest provided system engineering support; Aerojet in Gainesville, Va. provided the propulsion section, with Goodrich Corporation in Cedar Knolls, N.J. providing the fuel control and actuator systems. Alliant TechSystems, Inc. in Woodland Hills provided the GNC section and simulation modeling support; Kuchera Defense Systems provided electronic/wiring components, U.S. Air Force’s 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, Detachment 1 provided the launch platform, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Detachment, White Sands, N.M. provided flight test coordination.

Contributed photo
NAWCWD led a successful demonstration of an integral rocket ramjet propulsion system for the High Speed Anti-radiation Demonstration Project on Aug. 15.