MKV Restraint And Dispense System Technology Demonstration

A critical aspect of the MKV system concept is the restraint and dispense of the individual KVs from the carrier/launch vehicle. The individual KVs need to survive launch and fly out towards incoming targets while the KVs are attached to the Carrier Vehicle (CV). As the CV approaches an incoming group of targets (re-entry vehicles and countermeasures), the KVs must be dispensed on controlled velocity vectors without inducing significant pitch, roll and yaw motions into the KVs. Even if the individual KVs can correct for motion errors induced during dispense, correcting these induced motions reduces the divert/control capability of the KVs. Systima is proposing to demonstrate the MKV Restraint and Dispense System Technology in a flight test. The flight tests will be performed using an MKV dispenser system design updated to match the latest MKV system design. This flight test will confirm that there are no issues or difficulties when the technology is applied in the actual operating environment. This test will verify that the flight performance of the dispenser matches the performance observed during ground tests and it provides additional confidence that the dispense system is ready for integration with the CV and KV flight test hardware.