April 1988
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18 Reads
To meet operational requirements, the next generation of long range cruise class missiles will fly at relatively high altitudes and supersonic or hypersonic speeds. Low cost design and development approaches must be used. To illustrate these approaches, the results of the USAF sponsored Aerodynamic Configured Missile (ACM) Program and the subsequent Low Cost Aerodynamic Configured Missile Demonstrator Program are summarized with emphasis on the impact of these studies on future missile concepts. The ACM program objective was to exploit the aerodynamic potential of supersonic cruise and maneuvering missiles to achieve significant improvements in performance. Configuration development, wind tunnel testing, and performance analyses were performed. Major uses of the program results to date are described. These uses include points of departure concepts, prediction models, evaluation of prediction models, and evaluation of other missile concepts. A low cost flight program plan is described with the goal to demonstrate missile flight at high supersonic Mach numbers with high lift-to-drag ratios. A low cost approach is described which uses existing equipment, standard airframe structural design, the existing ACM data base, trajectory shaping and aggressive program planning. Two flight test options identified are wing-body concept. The design described is an ACM airframe which provides a test bed for a variety of experiments.