USAF Succeeds In 1st Test Of Palletized Missile System From Cargo Plane

The Air Force Rapid Dragon Program, a fast-paced experimentation campaign led by the Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) office, successfully completed its final flight test on Dec. 16, 2021 (Dec. 17, 2021, in Manila) at the Eglin Air Force Base Overwater Test Range in Florida.

Photo Insert: An airdropped palletized munition system is shown carrying a production long-range cruise missile with no warhead or engine immediately after being airdropped from an MC-130J, during a previous Rapid Dragon test

The flight test capstoned a two-year series and culminated in a live-fire of a current inventory cruise missile armed with a live warhead. Rapid Dragon demonstrates the ability to employ weapons using standard airdrop procedures from cargo aircraft using the Rapid Dragon Palletized Weapon System.

The program name is derived from a thousand-year-old Chinese military designed crossbow catapult that launched multiple crossbow bolts with the pull of a single trigger, raining destruction down on armies from tremendous ranges.

These lethal devices were called Ji Long Che—Rapid Dragon Carts. Today, the Rapid Dragon concept is changing the game again, this time as an airborne delivery system for US Air Force weapons. And like its namesake, these palletized munitions promise to unleash mighty salvos en masse on distant adversaries.

During the December test, an MC-130J flown by an Air Force Special Operations Command operational flight crew received new targeting data while in flight and routed them to the cruise missile flight test vehicle (FTV).

The aircraft Battle Management System’s inflight receipt and upload of the new targeting data into the FTV was a first-time achievement with a live cruise missile. Once inside the drop zone over the Gulf of Mexico, the MC-130J aircrew airdropped a four-cell Rapid Dragon deployment system containing the FTV and three mass simulants, which were sequentially released from the palletized deployment box while under a parachute.

Safe separation from the deployment box and weapon deconfliction was demonstrated using an unconventional deployment method (nose-down vertical orientation).

Immediately after the vertical release, the FTV deployed its wings and tail, achieved aerodynamic control, ignited its engine, performed a powered pull-up maneuver, and proceeded toward its newly assigned target. The cruise missile successfully destroyed its target upon impact.

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