Using Aircraft Crash Protected Recorders in Missile Test Applications

Using Aircraft Crash Protected Recorders in Missile Test Applications
Using Aircraft Crash Protected Recorders in Missile Test Applications
White Paper
May 30, 2018

Using Aircraft Crash Protected Recorders in Missile Test Applications

Any flight test application creates difficult requirements for instrumentation systems due to the harsh environments encountered. Missile test takes these complications even further as there are even harsher environmental conditions that electronics must operate in and the equipment is typically destroyed during the test.

The solution is to use a proven reliable system that can telemeter data to the ground but this isn’t always possible as sometimes the link will be disrupted. This disruption is particularly true for penetrator-type missiles (commonly known as ‘bunker busters’) which enter the ground, buildings, or structures where telemetered reception is lost. The valuable data in these last moments are therefore also lost.

The solution is to use a system with a recording capability that can survive missile impacts. Such a recorder would require special construction and is not typically available off-the-shelf for missile test operations. However, such recorders (known as Flight Data Recorders) are used extensively in commercial aircraft and increase in military aircraft too.

This white paper discusses how such readily available crash-protected recording devices can be combined with rugged data acquisition and transmission systems. These systems can provide reliable off-the-shelf solutions to capture data for later analysis where telemetry isn’t possible.

Using Aircraft Crash Protected Recorders in Missile Test Applications

Figure 1Cross Section of Typical Guided Missile

Download the white paper to learn more.