Rocket-Boosted Weapon System

The rocket-boosted weapon concept is proposed for aircraft secondary armament to perform short-range (2000-5000 feet) air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The system features a relatively small gun-launch, rocket-boosted guided projectile. Rapid-fire gun technology is used to launch multiple projectiles at relatively low muzzle velocity. Each projectile contains a substantial payload, a rocket motor to accelerate the projectile to high peak velocity during flight, and guidance commensurate with system requirements to achieve high hit probability. The muzzle velocity of the gun is augmented by the rocket booster to achieve flight characteristics suitable for a variety of range and target acquisition requirements; thus, the concept has unusual versatility inasmuch as the projectile features modularity and can be specially tailored to suit a specific mission. The rocket-boosted weapon concept has undergone initial conceptualization; but, the studies and analyses that are needed to establish the technical feasibility of some of the higher risk features, aircraft integration, and identification and adaptation to a specific mission have not been performed. It is proposed to address many of these aspects of concept development and feasibility assessment during the proposed program.