USAF Testing ‘Mutant’ Missiles That Twist In Mid-Air To Hit Their Targets
The Air Force sees missiles with articulating noses as one way to take on increasingly maneuverable threats.
BY
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
|
PUBLISHED MAR 9, 2023 1:48 PM
The U.S. Air Force is exploring a novel concept for increasing the likelihood of scoring a hit in air-to-air combat. The idea is to use an air-to-air missile with a nose that bends to get at the target before it can get away. The service views this as one path to giving current and future combat aircraft, including a sixth-generation stealth jet being developed under the Next Generation Air Dominance program, a new way to engage increasingly maneuverable threats.
The Air Force Research Laboratory highlighted what is formally known as the Missile Utility Transformation via Articulated Nose Technology (MUTANT) project at this week's 2023 Air and Space Forces Association's Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado. AFRL says that MUTANT leverages work that has been done over the past six years on related technologies, but notes the core concept takes advantage of related research and experimentation dating back all the way to the 1950s.
A graphic depicting a notional missile with an articulating nose section. USAF
"A more effective missile tends to have more range, maneuverability (g-capability), and agility (airframe responsiveness) with limited weight. The missile control actuation systems (CASs) affects all three of these metrics, and hence the ability to effectively close in on targets," AFRL's webpage on MUTANT explains. "Each CAS, or CAS combination, such as dual canards and fins, have distinct and strong implications to overall missile performance."
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/usaf-testing-mutant-missiles-that-twist-in-mid-air-to-hit-their-targets
