While keeping a distance is important at the end of a missile’s life, it’s quite the opposite at the beginning of it. Before an air-to-ground missile is ever attached to an aircraft, it must go through extensive testing, and the teams that are responsible for making that happen must work closely together. Ideal Aerosmith was proud to put its teamwork into action on a project this past June.
Ideal Aerosmith designed and developed a mobile missile launch system (MMLS) for a major manufacturer of missile technology for use on a new missile development program. The 2422-MLS-1 uses a gantry (which includes an elevation gimbal) attached to a 27-foot trailer to provide a stable, consistent firing base to test fire air-to-ground missiles.
“The 2422-MLS-1 system provides a highly precise testing environment,” says Bruce Petty, senior business development manager at Ideal Aerosmith. “We fully understand how important accuracy is to our clients’ products and testing situations. Consequently, we take every measure to ensure that our testing technology is as accurate as possible. While this machine is somewhat unique in and of itself, the craftsmanship we put into it was consistent with everything we do here at Ideal Aerosmith.”
During development of the mobile missile launch system, the 2422-MLS-1 proved itself useful for more than just air-to-ground missiles. “It started out for a specific missile program, but it became clear right away that we could modify the specs and use a similar setup to test a wide variety of missiles,” says Petty. “It’s a product that is very flexible. It can be adapted to test many desired performance characteristics. It’s quite remarkable.”