, TUCSON: A series of Raytheon Company's ADM-160B Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD) vehicles demonstrated successful separation performance when launched from an Air Force F-16 aircraft.
The flight tests took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., under a development contract managed by the 728th Armament Systems Group.
Nine free-flight launches took place from May to July during the Eglin 46th Test Wing sorties. Each sortie involved the launch of MALD vehicles at varying speeds, altitudes and F-16 pylon locations.
Three of the nine MALDs were equipped with specialized telemetry instrumentation to gather trajectory information, and all were photographed by chase aircraft with on-board cameras. The launches were safe, stable and demonstrated successful MALD separation at extreme points of the F-16.
The 120-inch MALD is a turbojet-powered, swing-wing missile that is launched from an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon or B-52 Stratofortress and flies a pre-programmed flight path into hostile air space to stimulate enemy air defenses.
MALD is being developed at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. Additional MALD free flight tests are scheduled to run through 2007, and the program will transition into production in fiscal year 2008.
Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.
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