DARPA's flying missile rail project

DARPA wants to develop a so-called flying missile rail. It will mount on any 2000 lbs rated hard point and carry at least one AMRAAM that can be launched when the fmr is attached to the aircraft or - and here is where it gets interesting - after it has been launched.

Yes, the fmr is a UAV. The ideal is to gave a flight time of up to 20 minutes at mach .9.

Funny part in the video? Look at the fmr notional shape.

alert5.com...

See MAcross missile massacre for what darpa wants to see one day.

a reply to: yuppa

Wouldn't that be a "ghost"?

a reply to: anzha

This is how the USAF is playing the numbers game against peer states that can put large numbers of assets in to the air.
Put as many munitions in the battle field airspace as possible, destroy anything and everything in that zone (I don't believe it will be limited to air targets only either) before 4th gen freindlies come into town. If half of those FMRs are lost, big deal, just make more.
Yes, that FMR concept looks a lot like the NG desk model.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: anzha
This is how the USAF is playing the numbers game against peer states that can put large numbers of assets in to the air.

It makes sense. Semi stealthy UAV that is basically an aerial bomb truck and as you note, the loss of the asset would not be as devastating as losing a few F-22's. The F-22's after firing all their missiles and then sit up at FL60, and direct the UAV's missiles at other targets.

I agree that land attack will also be part of it. They could also help provide SEAD support

I still think that a B-1R concept is something they should really look at......

a reply to: FredT

I thought they were going to make the B21 for that?

Yeah that will work. The short legged fighter wont be able to carry enough ammunition? No problem, lets get yet another platform to support those fighters.
But since there are so many airbases in the pacific theater and keeping them open and supplying them during wartime wont be an issue at all, its ok for the support platform to carry just one or two missiles each.

How about this:
Instead of trying to marry and ammunition carrier capability with a forward deploying semi stealth drone launchend from a Legacy fighter jet, look beyond fighter jets and build something you can actually use without depending on dozens of tankers they chinese ballistic missiles just blew up on the tarmac.
You already building the B-21, give it an AtA capability. Cant be that difficult. Probably little more than an radar update and a different launcher. Aim for carrying 50 AIM-120 at once and you’ll end up with the armament an entire fighter squadron can bring to bear.
And you need far less tanker and other logistical support up front for the same capability. This would free up airbases in theater for other assets and you would be able to achieve air superority even if the chinese punch those bases out.
And if you want to get fancy, you can combine the B-21 in AtA configuration with an AEW VLO drone.
There is no need at all for a fighter jet carrying a drone to deploy in front to fire a missile or two against a chinese fighter regiment or something.
And if you have money to burn, start working on an air launched ERAM for the bomber fleet. You could even use legacy platforms like the B-1B, circle them well outside any chinese land based interception envelope and use a VLO drone for targetting.
China wont be able to go up against this capability for years and years to come, probably decades even.

But sure, cheaply producing more stuff for the the Legacy fighter fleet will do the trick.
Jets all the way. As always.

a reply to: anzha

I would like to see something like this used as a standoff weapon against long range intersection of the support aircraft. Strap a few on a couple tankers or AWACs and they can fire and forget while they try to make a run for it. Having to deal with a couple pairs of incoming Kamikaze drones with serious teeth might just buy them enough time and smooth some of the current peer war fears.

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
a reply to: FredT

I thought they were going to make the B21 for that?

Nah the B-21 is for strategic bombing etc and if we are in a shooting war, they would have other mission other than acting as a missile truck.

The B-1R could carry alot of extended range missiles, lurk way back, is somewhat stealthy and given its mission, you would want front on stealth but all aspect would be overkill, and have supersonic dash speed to get out f dodge. YOu volley off several and they they could be given mid course and terminal directions by the F-22's on the foreward edge

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
a reply to: yuppa

Wouldn't that be a "ghost"?

Fear the bones i always say.

a reply to: anzha

Very interesting...

Found this that might add to the OP

Popular Mechanic 'Factory in a can'

Uuuummm someone should tell Raytheon..

WASHINGTON — When an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet took down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 in June — the U.S. military’s first air-to-air kill in nearly 20 years — it launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, a mainstay of the Navy and Air Force’s weapons inventory since it came online in the early 1990s. But after decades of continued production, the AMRAAM is facing obsolescence problems, and Raytheon, its manufacturer, has fallen behind on a technology refresh due to problems developing an integrated circuit.

DoD slashes missile buy