F-16/SPICE Separation Analysis-Summary of the Risk-Reduction Phase Program

The full-scale development program of a new store includes determination of the aerodynamic configuration, mapping of the aerodynamic characteristics, and determination of the release envelope. In aircraft–store configurations involving expected tiny distances between the released store and other parts of the aircraft, the risk-reduction phase of the full-scale development program includes a preliminary store separation analysis. Usually, this preliminary analysis is based on captive trajectory system tests, which may yield inadequate data in cases with very close distances between store and aircraft. A new preliminary store separation analysis method is suggested that consists of a six-degrees-of-freedom simulation based on a few carriage wind-tunnel tests and freestream aerodynamics. This new method was successfully applied for the smart precise impact and cost-effective guidance kit development program, to determine its aerodynamic configuration, from a store separation point of view. The presented method is a quick, cost-effective and approximate version of the full simulative technique that includes grid tests. The method is described and a comparison is presented between the captive trajectory system tests and the six-degrees-of-freedom simulation results.