These requirements include the successful separation of the AIM-9X missile and the 600-gallon fuel tank with pylon.

The test was the last of eight F-22 Program Office-sponsored store separation wind tunnel tests planned within the engineering manufacturing development stage, a phase conducted to ensure Air Force requirements are met or exceeded by the aircraft.

Testers used the F-22 aircraft, 600-gallon tank plus pylon and AIM-9X models, constructed at 1/1 5-scale, in the center's 4-foot transonic wind tunnel to acquire and evaluate data from Mach 0.4 to the practical tunnel limit of Mach 1.95 at various flight conditions.

According to Doyle Veazey, an AEDC test project engineer, free-stream, aerodynamic grid, captive trajectory and captive loads data were acquired during the course of the test.

"This first test of the AIM-9X, launched from the side weapons bay, will greatly enhance the short range fighting capability of the F-22," Veazey said.

Data for the 600-gallon tank were obtained from the inboard and outboard wing weapons stations for the revised fuel states and associated store mass properties. The AIM-9X and fuel tank data will be used to prepare a mission summary for flight testing scheduled in 2003.

Additional testing, sponsored by Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, the Air Force Research Labs at Eglin and Wright-Patterson Air Force Bases and the Air Force Seek Eagle Office at Eglin, examined for the first time, separation characteristics of the Miniaturized Munition Technology Demonstrator (MMTD) and the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) from the Raptor.

"The fact that the F-22 baseline test of the AIM-9X and the 600-gallon tank plus pylon were in the tunnel permitted the MMTD and LOCAAS add-on effort to be accomplished in a timely and cost effective manner," Veazey stated.

The LOCAAS submunition contains a low cost radar sensor and is able to search a broad area, identify and destroy a range of mobile ground targets. AEDC personnel designed the MMTD and LOCAAS models used for the test.

The F-22 Raptor is in development as a replacement for the Air Force's F-1 5 Eagle fighter. According to Capt. Martin Whalen, an AEDC project manager, since the F-1 5's introduction into the Air Force's inventory in 1975, technology has produced new air and ground threats that are available to potential enemies and are increasingly putting F-1 5s at risk.

Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Fl 19-PW-1 00 engines, the single-seat F-22 can travel at supersonic speeds without using afterburner. This supercruise capability combined with built-in ground attack capability, internal weapons bays to carry existing and planned air-to-air weapons, reduced observable and advanced sensors provide first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability for the Raptor.

AEDC is the world's most diverse complex of aerospace test facilities. Since it opened in 1951, its engineers, technicians, craftsmen and support personnel have been involved in the development of nearly all U.S. military and NASA highperformance jets, missiles and space systems. The center's propulsion test cells, aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, space chambers and ballistic ranges can simulate virtually every aspect of flight from ground level to deep space. Ground testing before flight reduces risks, saves lives, equipment, and money in operational testing. (Courtesy of Lockheed Martin press release)