TUCSON, Ariz., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Excalibur precision-guided
extended range projectile in development for the U.S. Army by Raytheon Company
(NYSE: RTNA, RTNB) successfully completed an important structural test series
March 2 and 3 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Ariz. The tests
verified critical projectile design components of the Excalibur
soft recovery vehicle (SRV) design. The SRV will be used in future testing to
validate the gun-hardening design of Excalibur subsystems.
The series consisted of seven projectile firings to validate the
structural integrity of the SRV base, body, and the guidance, navigation and
control sections, as well as tail-fin deployment and lock.
These tests are part of a series of planned Excalibur system tests leading
up to both a full-up SRV flight test later this spring and a guidance
electronics gun-hardening test planned for late summer.
A key element of the Army's Medium Brigade Transformation, Excalibur will
incorporate the latest Global Positioning System/inertial measurement unit
technology to deliver a variety of lethal payloads at a range of 50 kilometers
with 20-meter accuracy. Excalibur will provide accurate first round fire-for-
effect capability for all current and future digitized Howitzer gun systems.
Primex Technologies based in St. Petersburg, Fla., is Raytheon's teammate
on the Excalibur program and serves as the lead of the projectile body design
integrated product team.
Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader
that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense
electronics, engineering and construction, and business and special mission
aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves
customers in more than 80 countries.
Additional technical information:
The Excalibur SRV plays an important role in the projectile's development.
The SRV projectile measures the gun-hardening ability of guidance, navigation
and control components in the high-shock environment of Howitzer gunfire. The
SRV uses a parachute at the end of flight allowing for soft recovery of the
vehicle for test component analysis. Individual subsystems, such as the
electronic guidance system and control system that manage the projectile's
canards in flight, will be tested using the SRV.
During the March test series, six test rounds were fired to validate the
boom-base tail-assembly design. The structural integrity of the base and the
projectile joints successfully survived gunfire during all six firings.
Additionally, the tail fin design functioned properly, with fins deploying
and locking into position. Four of the projectiles were fired using a PXR
(propellant category) charge, resulting in a barrel pressure of 50,000 pounds
per square inch and an acceleration shock of more than 14,000 "g"s. The
remaining two test rounds were fired at a higher pressure of 55,000 pounds
per square inch and at 15,300 "g" acceleration.
The seventh test round was fired to measure the structural integrity of
the guidance, navigation and control sections. This projectile contained mock-
ups of internal components to ensure proper stress loads during gunfire. The
sectional structure and joints survived when fired under pressure of less than
55,000 pounds per square inch and by withstanding shock of more than 15,000
"g"s.
The test series concluded with two prototype tactical bases mounted on
M864 projectile bodies. The bases contained the fins locked into place and
covered with a polyurethane boot for environmental protection. The last test
projectiles successfully demonstrated structural robustness of the design as
well as successfully discarding the protective boots at PXR charge levels.
Contact:
Colleen Niccum
520.794.8565
http://www.raytheon.com
SOURCE Raytheon Company
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Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com
CONTACT:
David Polk of Raytheon Company, 781-860-2386
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