As new chaff technologies are developed with increased scattering efficiency, the payload size required for a radar cross section equivalent to that of a legacy round (e.g. RR-129/AL filled with aluminized glass fibers) is significantly decreased. While there are still some technical challenges left in the development and integration of the new, improved chaff fibers, it is clear that these materials will provide benefit both in terms of short wavelength response and the capability to increase the number of payloads on an aircraft. In this Phase I effort, Capco will leverage its extensive impulse cartridge (IC) design, manufacturing and test capabilities to develop, fabricate, and extensively test of a novel concentric Dual IC / Dual Chaff Cartridge concept that eliminates the requirement for an orientation adaptor to ensure clocking of the Dual ICs and Chaff cartridges when loaded into the AN/ALE-47. The proposed concentric IC consists of a single inner low side squib along with one or more outer high side squibs (in parallel) to normalize the pressure output on the outer concentric chaff payload. The effort will culiminate in dissemination testing of representative chaff fibers using the developed system
Benefit: The anticipated benefit is a significant increase in the number of chaff rounds that can be incorporated onto an airframe without any modifications to the AN/ALE-47 dispenser.
Keywords: Chaff, Chaff, Reliability, expendable countermeasures, impulse cartridge, Aircraft Survivability
