No aviation content, but some interesting pics.

[West Coast]

Of interest to military types. If not found interesting, proceed directly to F-35 thread to resuscitate yourself with aviation content.

Navy destroyer damaged by test missile explosion - CNNPolitics.com (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/politics/uss-the-sullivans-missile-explosion/index.html)

[Rosevidney1]

Don't be so modest. There was an (admittedly brief) period of flight before it threw a hissy fit!

[fleigle]

Well at least it was just a Standard missile, and not one of those "Super Duty Enhanced" ones...
:E:E:E
f

[MAINJAFAD]

Rare, but not that unusual. of the 400+ Bloodhound Mk 1 and Mk 2's that were fired from Woomera and Aberporth between 1958 and 1986, at least 4 suffered boost motor explosions at some point during the first 2-3 seconds of flight. When they were phased out of service, the 1200 odd live boost motors that were going spare were taken to Orfordness (according to a bloke I know who was involved in the operation), bolted down and fired. According to my source two of the motors exploded instead of playing horizontal roman candle.

[Ogre]

Here is a link to a video of the RN having a misfire of the Sea Dart system, not quite as plan...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JFDu-2aMfg

[Rosevidney1]

The SS11 was always treated with suspicion during my service. Rogues and cable breaks were not infrequent.

[MAINJAFAD]

This document has some detail on why the Sea Dart firing was a failure. 12 year old (Life Ex) Chow rocket boost motor suffered a propellant / insulation bonding failure.

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/about/people-and-resources/schools-institutes-research-centres/cranfield-defence-and-security/files/02-sloan-nitrocellulose-dosg-propellant-qualification-requirements.pdf

[Dan Winterland]

Live firing often involves almost time expired rounds - for obvious reasons. There are increased risks as a result, and frequent misfires.