846TS Test Program Capabilities

Dispenser Systems Testing

This category of testing encompasses the dispensing or launching of rocket-powered weapons, the dissemination of bomblets, flechettes, submunitions, and the dissemination of powder-like substance from payload carriers mounted on test sleds in a dynamic environment.

Blast and Impact Lethality Testing

Missile warheads, bombs, hit sensors, penetrators, and hit-to-kill interceptors have been subjected to impact testing against stationary inert and live munition targets at speeds ranging from 3000 to 9500 ft/sec. Targets for both inert and live munitions can be installed in an area where the track has a "pulldown". The sled hardware separates from the payload and goes downward into a pit, thus permitting the payload to impact the targets or to detonate the warhead as it approaches the target area without sled debris contamination. On 27 May 1998, the High Speed Test Track was designated the Missile Defense Agency's Live Fire Test and Evaluation primary lethality test base.

Blast Effects Testing

Blast effects on moving sleds are conducted with high-explosive detonations. The objective of blast testing at the track is to simulate an explosive blast shock-wave intercept on full-scale reentry vehicles, components of aircraft, missiles, and aerospace systems during supersonic and hypersonic flight. Charges equivalent to 10,000 pounds of TNT have been detonated at the facility.

Crew Escape Systems Testing

Tests of ejection seats, extraction seats, and crew escape modules for a variety of aircraft have been conducted in excess of 700 Knots Equivalent Air Speed (KEAS). These tests have included development, qualification, and compatibility tests. A Multi-Axis Seat Ejection (MASE) sled permits a new approach to ejection seat testing. It allows ejections over a range of pitch, roll and yaw angles and dynamic rolling conditions instead of the straight and level conditions that have characterized Track ejection testing over the past 25 years. The MASE sled has a pitch range of +/- 30º, a yaw range of +/- 20º, a roll range of +/- 90º, and the ability to dynamically roll at high rates during a seat ejection sequence.

Missile Launch

Experimental missiles have been launched from the Air Launch Sled while on the track under dynamic conditions. For experimental missiles, tests have included propulsion, guidance, and homing systems. Other similar tests have also included cross-wind firings.

846 TS Hypersonic Upgrade Program

The Air Force's 846th Test Squadron conducted a world record rocket sled test on the Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) at 0033 on 30 April 03. The sled obtained a velocity of 9,465 feet per second or 6,453 miles per hour, delivering a 192-lb. payload into a target. The test culminated the Hypersonic Upgrade Program (HUP) which began in 1998. The HUP significantly increased the capabilities at the HHSTT to meet a variety of hypersonic test needs for the Department of Defense. The test demonstrated improvements in rocket sled design, rail alignment, rocket propulsion, and modeling and simulation. These new capabilities will be used on an upcoming missile defense warhead test program. The HHSTT is the only ground test facility capable of achieving the speed/payload combinations necessary to simulate full-scale intercepts of missile defense systems. The previous world record of 8,974 feet per second, or 6,119 miles per hour, with a 25-lb. payload was also set at the HHSTT 5 October1982.

The sled was propelled by a four-stage sled train. A Super Roadrunner (SRR) rocket motor, developed specifically for the HUP program, powered each of the last two stages. The SRR motor produces 228,000-pounds of thrust for 1.4 seconds and only weighs 1,100 pounds. The maximum acceleration of the sled was 157-g's or 157 times the force exerted by gravity. When the payload impacted the target it had 363 megajoules of energy or the energy of a car impacting a brick wall at 2,020 miles per hour.

The HHSTT is the world's premier rocket sled test track. The HHSTT at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, is an aerospace ground test facility that conducted its first sled test in 1950. During tests, payload and instrumentation are moved along a straight-line path by means of rocket sleds, which operate on a set of heavy-duty crane rails. These rails span a total linear distance of 50,988 feet. They are continuously welded and aligned to rigid tolerances with respect to straightness and surface smoothness.

The Test Track provides a critical link between laboratory-type investigations and full-scale flight tests. The Test Track provides an efficient, safe, and cost-effective ground test alternative to expensive developmental flight tests. Complementing the Test Track itself, the overall HHSTT complex encompasses ancillary facilities for artificial rain simulation, an accurately surveyed ejection test area, captive and free-flight blast test sites, impact test sites, and a horizontal rocket test stand. Support facilities include buildings for electronic and photo-optical instrumentation, a telemetry ground station, and engineering and shop facilities for design and fabrication of test sleds.

Both military and civilian professionals operate the HHSTT and have the skills needed to design, fabricate, instrument, launch, photograph, and analyze the performance of test vehicles and payloads.

World Record set 30 Apr 2003! Watch Video.