A team of engineers at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) are helping to develop and test the Towed Airborne Plume Simulator (TAPS) with current efforts focused on adding capability.
TAPS is a simulator pod that can be towed behind an aircraft for testing missile warning and infrared countermeasure systems. The AEDC is an advanced complex of flight simulation test facilities headquartered at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. It is an Air Force Material Command facility and contributed to the development of many aerospace programs including ICBMs; the space shuttle; the International Space Station; Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo; many military aircraft , satellites, and cruise missiles.
The TAPS is used to test missile warning systems on aircraft by being towed behind one aircraft while the missile warning system to be tested, the System Under Test, is installed on another aircraft. TAPS has valves and a control system that allows for precise control of the flow rate of its pyrophoric fuel to simulate temporal behavior of missile plumes.
Dr. Robert Hiers, principal investigator for TAPS at AEDC, explained the current TAPS development efforts that are adding capabilities include extension of the flight envelope at lower altitudes and airspeeds to support missile warning system testing on helicopters; extension to higher altitudes and airspeeds to enable better simulation of air-to-air missile shots; and brighter pyrophoric burners in order to simulate larger missiles.
“These capability enhancements were enabled in large part by leveraging multiple funding sources: Center for Countermeasures; AEDC internal technology development resources; Small Business Innovation Research; and the Commercialization Readiness Program,” Dr. Taylor Swanson, an engineer at AEDC, said in a statement.
“Coordinating this multifaceted program allowed more work to be performed than would otherwise be possible, and a synergistic effect was achieved by executing related efforts in parallel,” Swanson added.
The TAPS program is managed by the the Center for Countermeasures (CCM) at the White Sands Missile Range, NM. TAPS is jointly operated by CCM, AEDC, and Science Applications International Corporation [SAIC].