
Office of Admissions Step 1: Dual Enrollment Applicationįill out the Lourdes Dual Enrollment Application and indicate your student type “As part of the weapon system integration and demonstration phase, the team will modify and verify the interfacing operating software, perform captive flight test and conduct a missile release test to demonstrate the low-cost cruise missile concept,” says AFRL.Ī timeline of that next phase of tests was not given.Applying for the Lourdes University Dual Enrollment program is easy!įollow the steps listed below to apply.

It wants those two weapons to work together to attack simulated targets in a demonstration in the fall of 2021.Īs part of the Gray Wolf initiative, the laboratory plans next to use test data to integrate the TDI-J85 engine in flight test vehicles. The AFRL plans to start demonstrating the Golden Horde concept in late 2020, using a modified Small Diameter Bomb I and a modified Miniature Air-Launched Decoy. “The system only selects from set plays and cannot violate defined Rules of Engagement,” it says. The AFRL is careful to note the Golden Horde technology would not use artificial intelligence or machine learning to decide what targets to strike. Loaded prior to the mission, the playbook provides a choice of plays from which the weapons can choose.” “Golden Horde uses a collection of plays called a playbook. “A ‘play’ is an established collaborative behavior enabled (or disabled) when certain predefined conditions are met by the swarm,” says the laboratory. The Golden Horde is to use a team-like autonomy that AFRL describes as “play calling”. “Ultimately, this supports the use of lower-cost sub-systems in place of more-expensive systems without sacrificing capability.” “When each weapon shares measurements of a target’s location, combining this information reduces errors since it creates a more accurate target location for all to reference,” says the AFRL. Those abilities fit the description of AFRL’s Golden Horde initiative, a project aiming to create a networked swarm of munitions, including guided bombs and cruise missiles, that would autonomously share targeting information and coordinate attacks. “Additionally, the programme explored using multiple Gray Wolf missiles in a networked swarm to meet an evolving warfighter mission requirement,” says AFRL. The laboratory is also looking at way for the Gray Wolf missiles to work together.

That contract said the goal of the cruise missile was “defeat of enemy integrated air defense systems”. In 2017, Northrop Grumman was awarded $110 million by AFRL for the Gray Wolf development effort. The USAF wants cruise missiles with ranges more than 250nm (463km) that can be used for a variety of missions. It claims the TDI-J85 is the first in “its class and price point to successfully operate at altitude”. The laboratory aims to create a cost-effective, easily manufacturable jet engine that can be produced in large numbers and that will power swarms of low-cost cruise missiles. “The engines tested accumulated sufficient inflight operating time, building confidence in the design durability.” “The engine met performance expectations for thrust and surpassed fuel efficiency expectations,” says AFRL.

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