Live-Fire Tests Prove Capabilities of Small Counter-RPG Kill Vehicle

The Orbital ATK Helicopter Active Protection System kill vehicle counters rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and advanced MANPADS. (Photo: Business Wire)
Helicopters are vulnerable to damage from RPGs because the aircraft often hovers in position at low altitude, making it easy to target by an enemy on the ground. HAPS is designed to identify an incoming threat, launch and guide a KV to a precise location and detonate a warhead at a point where the RPG is rendered ineffective. All of this is designed to occur within a fraction of a second and far enough away from the helicopter to ensure the crew and aircraft are not harmed by metal fragments from the destroyed RPG.
The live-fire demonstration was designed to prove-out launch from a fixed ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispense System, off-axis pitch maneuvers of the KV and controlled flight of the KV to an impact point. The test flights successfully demonstrated these attributes and validated a number of HAPS components, including the KV launch cartridge, KV divert and attitude thrusters, non-linear guidance and control algorithms, and the fast-sync wireless command guidance link.
Orbital ATK is dedicated to working with our customers to further
develop this first-of-a-kind active protection system for helicopters
and put it into the hands of our armed forces, said
Our aircraft protection systems demonstrate a commitment to protecting
the warfighter, said
The HAPS system consists of an Engagement Management Module, a slightly-modified Counter Measures Dispense System, such as the ALE-47, and the KVs that launch from the counter-measures dispenser. The KVs fit within the envelope of the standard flare and chaff launch tubes. In addition to countering RPGs, HAPS can serve as a last line of defense against advanced man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS.
The live-fire test was conducted in
Orbital ATK s aircraft survivability product portfolio includes the AAR-47 missile, laser and hostile-fire threat warning sensor and the ShotFinder acoustic hostile-fire detection system. The AAR-47 missile warning system is installed on more than 3,200 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and is flown by the U.S. and its allies in more than 16 countries.
Orbital ATK s
About
Source:
Orbital ATK, Inc.
Media Contact:
Bryan Kidder,
410-864-4932
Defense Systems Group Communications
bryan.kidder@orbitalatk.com
or
Investor
Contact:
Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528
barron.beneski@orbitalatk.com