Small Aircraft Self Protection

The proposed program will study the use of a rocket motor with explosive or fragmenting warhead to protect a UAV from threats. Threats will be identified and grouped, then examined for vulnerability, function and attack orientation. Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs will be researched for maneuverability, aft profile and vulnerability, and appropriate stand-off distance to the threats to minimize residual effects. The best overall system concepts, including warhead and interceptor, that cause enough damage to the threat when launched from the researched UAVs, will be described. The system, its performance goals and a plan for development will be summarized.