Lightweight Thermally Protective Integrated Missile Airframe Composite

This MDA Phase II “Super” SBIR program proposes to demonstrate three distinct, mission-enabling components for insertion in MDA/Navy Aegis BMD Standard Missile 3 Block IIA upgrade (SM3 BLK IIA). These components are: 1. The divert and ACS thruster nozzles in the kinetic warhead (KW). 2. The hot control fin in the Steering Control Section (SCS attached to the SSBM). 3. Structural insulation (insulators) in the KW (replacing baseline silica/phenolic, carbon phenolic, and/or NPZ). These three ultra-high-temperature (UHT) component applications are critical if the significant mission performance enhancement goals for SM3 BLK IIA, compared to BLK IA and BLK IB, are to be met. This program benefits from the active participation of both Raytheon Missile Systems (Tucson, AZ) and Aerojet (Sacramento, CA). Hot fire motor testing under representative SM3 BLK IIA conditions (for KW DACS) will be conducted at Aerojet’s Sacramento test site. The hot fire testing will simultaneously test both the divert nozzles and structural insulators from this Phase II program, but also test pintles and pintle guides from a current and on-going MDA Phase II program. In this manner, the hot fire testing costs can be highly leveraged