The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) has a new missile using an articulation control actuation system, meaning the head and fins of the missile can move to meet a target. The technique mirrors the actions of a falcon bird, which researchers used as inspiration for the missile’s capabilities.
“[Engineers] noticed a really interesting thing when these falcons would intercept their prey,” Dr. Ben Dickinson, a research engineer at the AFRL, said. “As the head moved, the tail would move. And there seemed to be a cause-and-effect relationship between head movement and tell them apart from that, there’s a target tracking the target detection function of the head. And so this got us thinking because falcons have the same objectives as missiles and interceptors, get the target and capture.”
The MUTANT — an acronym for Missile Utility Transformation via Articulated Nose Technology — can adjust for slight misses while in flight. This ensures that when the MUTANT is used, it hits whatever the target may be. However, researchers are still working out how the MUTANT will be used.
“We’re exploring a broad target set, we’re looking at offensive roles, we’re looking at defensive roles, we’re looking at surface launch functions,” Dickinson said. “All of these kind of go into our figuring about the future instance of a system that may employ this technology to provide overall operational value to the warfighter.”
The MUTANT is set for testing later in 2024 at the same time as the Hellfire missile. It is unclear when the missile will officially be ready for use.
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