AFRL tests small warhead for high-speed weapons

The Air Force Research Laboratory has successfully demonstrated a small warhead designed to increase the distance high-speed weapons can travel.

The 846th Test Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base, NM, performed the sled test of the warhead, developed with Energetic Materials & Products and Hydrosoft International, on Nov. 18, AFRL announced in a press release today.

“A rocket sled accelerated the warhead at high speeds and an electric circuit at the end of the track detonated the warhead precisely on target,” Michael Denigan, AFRL’s principal investigator for the experiment, said in the release. “This demonstration gives our industry partners confidence that this smaller warhead solution will perform well in actual flight.”

Since the warhead is less than half the weight of a conventional design and takes up significantly less space, high-speed weapons will be able to hold more fuel and travel further, Col. Gary Haase, director of AFRL’s munitions directorate, added.

The release doesn’t indicate when the next test may occur.