Aerojet, a GenCorp Company and Roxel UK, the propellant supplier, tested a flight-weight boost/sustain rocket motor with a low-cost composite case which, along with other attributes, will ensure high performance, low weight and successful I'm capability.

The team demonstrated a high-thrust turndown on the minimum-smoke, 1.3 hazard classification, IM-compliant motor. During testing the motor maintained a high-thrust turndown ratio required by JCM, allowing a single rocket motor configuration to fulfill JCM requirements for range and time-of-flight on both rotary- and fixed-wing platforms. The team conducted the testing at Aerojet's Sacramento, Calif. Test facility.

"The testing conducted by the Aerojet/Roxel team successfully demonstrated the motor readiness for the SDD phase," said Jim Chamlee, Aerojet vice president, Tactical Programs. "Our ongoing testing will ensure a high-performance, low-risk entry into the JCM program."

The successful I'm (fast cook-off and Army fragment impact) demonstrations of flight configured rocket motors were announced recently by the Lockheed/Aerojet/Roxel team. "With the successful demonstration of the flight-weight, low-cost composite case motor and the I'm testing, we've significantly reduced risk on every subsystem of the missile," said Rick Edwards, director of Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

The Joint Common Missile is a multi-service, multi-user, multi-platform missile designed to engage and destroy stationary, relocatable and moving targets ranging from buildings and bunkers to tactical vehicles and advanced armor. The weapon is also designed to destroy small naval targets such as patrol craft.

The JCM is being developed to replace the Longbow/Hellfire missile on several rotary-wing platforms and the Maverick missile on the F/A-18. The long-term U.S. production run is estimated at 54,000 missiles, with a total contract value upwards of $5 billion. The UK Ministry of Defence is a potential future partner in the venture.

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