Effects of Internal Weapons Bays on Advanced Munitions

"The F-22 main internal weapons bay is selected to evaluate its effects on advanced munitions. The Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) is selected as the "advanced munition", since it contains a seeker, warhead, autonomous target acquitision,antenna , transceiver, signal processor, turbojet engine, and commercial electronics. The Phase I program has three objectives: (1) obtain the F-22 internal weapons bay flow field and acoustic environments over a wide range ofMach/flight conditions, (2) identify LOCAAS critical components, compare to the F-22 acoustic spectra, and provide ROM costs to harden critical components that may fail in the F-22 environment, and (3) complete the conceptual design of a flexible compositeflow field/acoustic supressor as an improvement over existing methods. In Phase II, critical LOCAAS components that fail F-22 environments will be tested to failure to understand their capability. Then, the evaluation of safely separating LOCAAS from theF-22 will begin. Advanced munitions, including LOCAAS, are becoming lighter and more complex. These weapons do not have the inertia to simply drop clear of the aircraft. Nor, can the weapons be ejected with more force because the weapon's electronicscannot with stand excessive accelerations. Flexible composites offer substantial volume, weight and cost savings over current designs. These advanced technologies are applicable to air-launched munitions as well unma