El programa Operational Fires (OpFires) de DARPA ejecut\u00f3 con \u00e9xito su primera prueba de vuelo en White Sands Missile Range en Nuevo M\u00e9xico. El sistema logr\u00f3 todos los objetivos de la prueba, incluido el uso por primera vez de un cami\u00f3n del Cuerpo de Marines de EE.UU. (USMC) como lanzador de misiles de mediano alcance y el empleo de sistemas de control de fuego de artiller\u00eda de inventario del Ej\u00e9rcito de EE. UU. Lockheed Martin construy\u00f3 el sistema, que incluye un motor cohete Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n
DARPA\u2019s Operational Fires (OpFires) program has successfully executed its first flight test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The OpFires system achieved all test objectives, including first ever use of a U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) logistics truck as a medium-range missile launcher, missile canister egress, stable flight capture, and use of U.S. Army inventory artillery fire control systems to initiate the test mission. Lockheed Martin built the system, which includes a Northrop Grumman rocket motor, and conducted the test.<\/p>\n
The test demonstrated integrated technology maturation of key enabling components including the first stage rocket motor, missile canister, and missile round pallet (MRP). The MRP is designed for use with the load handling system available on USMC and Army logistics vehicles, eliminating the need for a bespoke OpFires transporter erector launcher (TEL).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a promising step toward a TEL on-demand capability for accurately firing medium-range missiles from highly agile, readily available logistics trucks that are already in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps inventory,\u201d said Lt. Col. Joshua Stults, the DARPA program manager for OpFires. \u201cOur successful agile hardware development approach prioritizes full-scale flight testing that will inform further design maturation this year.\u201d<\/p>\n