Surface to air missile development programs typically utilize hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulations when available to provide a non-destructive high volume test environment for what are typically very expensive guidance sections. The HWIL, while invaluable, hasn't been able to obviate the need for missile flight tests. Because of the great expense of these missiles the designers are only allowed to perform a fraction of the desired tests. Missile Airframe Simulation Testbed (MAST) is a program conceived by US Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) that blends the non-destructive nature of HWIL with the confidence gained from flight tests to expand the knowledge gained while reducing the development schedule of new missile programs.

Date Published: 23 April 2010
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 7663, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XV, 76630E (23 April 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.851870

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7663:
Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XV
James A. Buford Jr.; Robert Lee Murrer Jr., Editor(s)