The AQM-127 Supersonic Low-Altitude Target (SLAT) was a
target drone
A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews.
One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational ...
developed during the 1980s by
Martin Marietta for use by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. Derived from Martin Marietta's work on the cancelled
ASALM
The Advanced Strategic Air-Launched Missile (ASALM) was a medium-range strategic missile program, developed in the late 1970s for the United States Air Force. Intended for use in both the air-to-surface and anti- AWACS roles, the missile's devel ...
missile, SLAT proved to have severe difficulties in flight testing, and the project was cancelled during 1991.
Design and development
Development of what became the YAQM-127 was initiated in 1983 following the cancellation of the
BQM-111 Firebrand. A replacement for the
MQM-8 Vandal target drone was still required, and a specification was developed for a target drone, capable of being recovered via parachute and reused, for launch from a variety of aircraft.
[Parsch and Caston 2006]
Bids for the contract were submitted by Martin Marietta,
Ling-Temco-Vought
Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2000. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, amo ...
, and
Teledyne Ryan
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California, in 1934. It became part of Teledyne in 1969, and of Northrop Grumman when the latter company purchased Ryan in 1999. Ryan built several historically and tec ...
,
with the Martin Marietta design being judged the winner of the design competition in September 1984. Derived from the cancelled
Advanced Strategic Air-Launched Missile developed by Martin Marietta for the United States Air Force, the missile utilised a
Marquardt Marquardt is a surname of German origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* August F. Marquardt (1850–1925), American politician
*Bridget Marquardt (born 1973), American television personality, glamour model, and actress
* Christel Marquar ...
hybrid
rocket-ramjet propulsion system, with a solid rocket booster providing initial thrust, with the rocket's chamber, following burnout, becoming the combustion chamber for a ramjet sustainer.
The AQM-127 was designed to fly at speeds of Mach 2.5 at an altitude of , following a pre-programmed course on autopilot.
The SLAT was to be fitted with
radar signature augmentors and a radar seeker emulator;
initial operational capability
Initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement.
The United States D ...
was projected for 1991.
Operational history
The first test launch of the fifteen YAQM-127A pre-production test missiles produced was conducted on November 20, 1987. A further five test flights were conducted between then and January 1989; however only one of the six tests proved a success.
Following a twenty-two month stand-down to reassess the program and modify the missile design, flight testing resumed in November 1990; this test also was a failure, as was a final attempt at a test in May 1991.
With the SLAT proving a consistent failure and the cost of the project increasing dramatically, the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
stepped in, and during the summer of 1991 the AQM-127 program was cancelled.
The Navy, still requiring a new high-speed target drone to replace the Vandal, would turn to a drone conversion of a Russian missile, the
MA-31, as an interim solution. This drone entered service in small numbers during 1999.
[Goebel 2010]
See also
*
Crow (missile)
*
GQM-163 Coyote
*
Kh-31
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aqm-127 Slat
Target drones of the United States
Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States
Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States