
The Navy recently launched a Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) from an unmanned aircraft target drone for the first time in what it says is a step that advances air-launched missile technology. The May 8 announcement by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) said they launched the SFIRR from a Northrop Grumman [NOC] BQM-34 target drone over Point Mugu Sea Range in California. NAWCWD argued SFIRR “simplifies missile propulsion by eliminating the complexity found in liquid fuel ramjet…