EMPLOYMENT OF PBR PROPULSION AND SEEDED ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS TO ENHANCE IBM PERFORMANCE AND SIGNATURES

XERAD PROPOSES TO INVESTIGATE THE UTILIZATION OF THE ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR TECHNOLOGY CONCEPT KNOWN AS THE PARTICLE BED REACTOR (PBR) WHICH WAS BASELINED FOR AN AIR FORCE ASTRONAUTICS LABORATORY (USAFAL) STUDY FOR AN ORBIT TRANSFER VEHICLE (OTV). THE STUDY FOCUSED ON HYDROGEN AS THE WORKING FLUID. FOR AN ICBM APPLICATION, AN ALTERNATE PROPELLANT SUCH AS AMMONIA, WILL BE EMPLOYED IN ATMOSPHERIC PHASES. THIS TECHNOLOGY COUPLED WITH UNIQUE ULTRA-LOW DENSITY COATING MATERIALS FROM ANOTHER SDIO PROGRAM SHOULD GREATLY ENHANCE SUPPRESSIONOF BOOSTER SIGNATURES. ALSO, THE PBR TECHNOLOGY OFFERS LOWER MISSILE WEIGHT OR GREATER PAYLOAD FOR THE SAME WEIGHT. ALTERNATIVELY, THIS LATTER EXCESS PERFORMANCE CAN BE USED FOR DEPRESSED TRAJECTORIES AND/OR HYPERBALLISTIC SPEEDS. SCOPING ANALYSES AND CURSORY PRELIMINARY DESIGN WILL BE PERFORMED IN PHASE I WITH BASE CASE DESIGN AND DETAILED COST/EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES FOR PHASE II.