Weapons testing
“In the future customers will want faster, more
maneuverable targets with low radar cross section”
the weapon came and we can install
equipment that will tell them that.
Customers look for similar data from
surface and land targets too.”
As weapons systems evolve, so do the
requirements QTS’s customers place on
the targets. Werner says, “We’ve seen
fast-moving patrol craft become a threat,
for example, and developed Hammerhead
to simulate them.
“In the future customers will want
faster, more maneuverable targets with
low radar cross section, capable of
simulating fast-moving missiles that
might threaten shipping from
land or air.”
In its Rattler ground/airlaunched
supersonic target
QTS has a versatile target
capable of exceeding Mach 2.0.
Much of its flexibility comes
from distinct launch profiles,
either from land/ship, or beneath
a Banshee Jet 80. In the latter case,
the Banshee may assume the role of a
missile-firing aircraft, releasing the
PREFIXED FOR REMOTE CONTROL
The US military has and continues to make use of
full-size targets created by adding remote control
systems to surplus aircraft that generally retain an
optionally piloted capability. Modified aircraft gain the
designator prefix ‘Q’, as in the contemporary QF-16.
Where control was historically from an airborne platform,
or that platform launched smaller targets, then the ‘D’
prefix for ‘drone controller’ was added after modification
– DC-130 is an example.
Early Sparrow missile trials expended remotelycontrolled
F6F Hellcat and even QB-17 Flying Fortress
drones, while subsequent conversions included the
QB-47, QF-106 and QF-4, predecessor to the QF-16.
In the UK, the urgent need to prove indigenous
missile capabilities led to the conversion of Fairey Firefly
airframes to U.Mk 9 configuration as a stop-gap while
the Jindivik was in development. Later, 200 Meteor jet
fighters were modified as U.Mk 15 and U.Mk 16 airframes,
while a similar program in Australia produced the U.Mk
21. An attempt to produce a much higher performance
target, through the modification of three Sea Vixen naval
fighters to D.Mk 3 standard, was abandoned.
44 DECEMBER \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
Rattler at stand-off range against a ship to
simulate a supersonic weapon, then
turning away. Depending on the scenario,
the result could set the defenders the
double challenge of defeating the Rattler
and preventing the Banshee escaping to
return another day.
It’s a complex target system that QTS
invested in after talking closely with its
customers. That policy echoes through
the company’s offering, which Werner
says also benefits from the resources of
the wider QinetiQ organization.
The result is not only an essential
trials and training tool kit, but
also a fully deployable trials
support organization. \\
per ‘kill’ would be unaffordable so we look
carefully at the prices customers might be
willing to pay.”
AN INCREASING CHALLENGE
The requirement for creating technology
that will challenge a high-tech weapons
system and generate data in the process,
combined with the need to create a
replaceable, essentially throw-away target,
is particularly challenging.
Customers typically use targets to
prove manufacturer’s claims for a
weapons system and QTS equips them
accordingly. Equipment fit, data collection
and data transmission will vary
depending on range facilities and much of
the technology is sensitive.
Werner says, “We put sensors and
recording equipment onto targets and
customers have their own too, often
recording data during flight. They’ll want
to know what happened when the
weapon hit and what happened
beforehand. If it didn’t hit, they’ll want to
know why. They’ll also assess how close
6
5
5 // The Barracuda USV-T is
powered so it can tow
multiple targets
(Photo: QTS)
6 // Among the latest QTS
products, Rattler’s ground
launch capability was
added in 2018
(Photo: QTS)
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM