Air-Launched Guided Rockets Trials Under Way

摘要

On April 2 the US Air Force announced it had conducted the first test firing of a laser-guided rocket from a Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt Ⅱ. Test launches of the BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System Ⅱ (APKWS Ⅱ) were undertaken in February at Eglin AFB, Florida, by the 40th Flight Test Squadron of the 46th Test Wing. APKWS Ⅱ includes a 2.75in (70mm) 35lb (16kg) laser-guided rocket and is operationally used from helicopters. Three test sorties were flown during which the weapon was carried and fired from the Thunderbolt, the first fixed-wing type to launch it. The initial sortie investigated the impact of carrying the rocket and its launcher on the aircraft's flight characteristics.