24 Oct 11. Northrop Grumman and ATK successfully ground-tested a Minuteman III Stage 1 solid rocket motor for the United States Air Force as part of the Minuteman Solid Rocket Motor Warm Line (SRMWL) program at ATK’s test facility in Utah. This test was the second Production Quality Assurance (PQA) ground test of the SRMWL Stage 1. The first Stage 1 PQA was successfully tested on March 24, 2011. The SRMWL is designed to sustain critical propulsion-related skills to ensure the weapon system can be sustained. The Minuteman III program began in 1966 and currently maintains 450 missiles deployed at three missile wings.
“We prepare for and assess every ICBM test very rigorously, and the success of this Stage 1 test provides one more point of assurance of the integrity and reliability of the ICBM weapon system today and the solid rocket motor industrial base for the years to come,” said Tony Spehar, vice-president of Northrop Grumman’s Missile Systems business unit. Northrop Grumman is the ICBM prime contractor and responsible for overall sustainment of the ICBM weapon system.
As part of the SRMWL program, up to ten motor sets over two years will be manufactured by ATK under contract to Northrop Grumman at ATK facilities in Utah. The objective of the SRMWL’s PQA testing is to demonstrate the motors perform as designed. Each of the three stages is tested every year. Ground tests for Stage 2 and 3 are conducted in altitude chambers at Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee and each was successfully tested this past summer.
“This successful test demonstrates that the motors produced under the warm line contract are fully representative of deployed first stage ICBM motors,” said Scott Lehr, ATK Aerospace Systems vice president and general manager of Strategic and Commercial Systems. The warm line program also maintains the critical skills, infrastructure and supplier base necessary to produce ICBM propulsion hardware in the future.”

26 Oct 11. Iran has developed an advanced noiseless electromagnetic railgun that is capable of firing steel bullets without using explosive propellant. The lightweight rifle is equipped with an electromagnetically operated projecting system, which does not require explosive powder for shooting bullets. The gun is capable of firing 30 8mm steel bullets a minute with a velocity of 330m/sec and requires two seconds to recharge after each shot, according to Fars News Agency. The weapon can be used to guard ammunition stores, oil and gas refineries, primary infrastructure and military bases. (Source: armytechnology.com)

26 Oct 11. For service personnel working in multi-threat and challenging environments, it is imperative to know they are as protected as possible with clothing that is comfortable to wear, flexible and lightweight. DuPont has launched three innovative solutions that address these key issues for combat, military and police protection at Milipol 2011: Nomex® Multi Threat Protection (MTP), Kevlar® Fabric Felt (FF) 520 and Kevlar® Impact Control (IC) 600D. From riot, civil unrest, and IED’s, today’s infantry is subject to an ever-increasing range of threats. To combat these, DuPont has combined thermal protection with high mechanical strength resulting in its multi-threat protection solution, DuPont™ Nomex® MTP fabric. The fabric protects the skin from heat or flame (Nomex® technology), offers protection against small low energy fragments and has exceptional abrasion resistance. Nomex® MTP can be printed in a way that the specific colours and infrared values give low visibility, increasing the wearers’ safety. With the advanced Novasol® printing technology, Nomex® MTP can be printed without compromising the pattern and the fastnesses expected by the armies. The blended fabric is based on proprietary siro core spun technology enabling excellent abrasion resistance. The fabric also complies with EN 11612 A, B1 and C1 thermal requirements. Whilst the ability for the fabr