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The test was carried out on January 9 at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, and is unique because it involves an experimental missile. (The Firebees were firing AGM-65 Mavericks.)
In fact, it seems that the Navy and USAF decided to use the QF-4 because the clearance process was simpler than that involved in testing an experimental missile from a manned aircraft. "We have pioneered a new venue to test forward-firing ordnance without risk to valuable air assets or crew members," said Lt. Col. Joel Rush, commander of Detachment 1 of the 82nd Air Target Squadron.
The USAF release oddly does not identify the missile, but it looks like a test vehicle for the Office of Naval Research
High Speed Anti-Radiation Demonstration (HSAD) program. Atlantic Research Corp. now part of Aerojet, was awarded the contract to provide a variable-flow ducted rocket, a form of solid-fuel ramjet engine, for HSAD in 2002, and it has continued to be funded via
earmarks since then, supported by California Republican Rep. Buck McKeon.
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