New missile maintenance bay brings new life to old missiles

Photo By JOSE SALAZAR | Bill Elowitz, the Patriot program lead test officer with WSMR Material Test Directorate (in blue) shows the new bay to WSMR VIPs. The bay allows for the replacement of an o-ring in patriot missiles.  

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, UNITED STATES

10.23.2014

Story by John Hamilton 

White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs

WHITE SANDS, N.M. - A missile maintenance facility that opened on White Sands Missile Range Oct. 23 will extend the lifespan of patriot missiles potentially saving the Army millions.

The ribbon cutting for the ceremony was a deceptively small affair, attended by WSMR leaders as well as members of the range's Patriot program and representatives from the Raytheon corporation. The small, simple looking facility housed in one of the bunkers on the range's Launch Complex 38 features everything a missile technician needs to replace a small but crucial part of a patriot missile.

"It allows us to change out one component: a $20 o-ring; but that o-ring is critical for the flight," said Cameron Gibson, Raytheon's site executive for White Sands Missile Range.

The missiles fitted with these o-rings are older Patriot Advanced Capability 2 models that have been sitting in storage for quite some time.

"These are quite old, these were probably produced in some of the first missile buys back in the 80's," said Bill Elowitz, the Patriot program lead test officer with WSMR Material Test Directorate.

Just like in any other machine, over time the o-rings can dry out, crack, or otherwise decay or become damaged and no longer provide a proper seal.

While the replacement of an o-ring seems like a small thing, in the world of rocket science o-rings can mean the difference between a functional missile system and an expensive to dispose of piece of waste. In the case of a patriot missile the o-ring in question is the propulsion arming and firing unit o-ring, which help keep heat and pressure from the motor away from other components inside the missile.

Replacing this o-ring means that the missile can continue to sit on the shelf long enough to be used as a target for the testing of other air and missile defense systems, like the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 version of the patriot missile.

By reconfiguring these missile to fly and act like other types of missiles, they can be used as targets representing weapons like tactical ballistic missiles and used in a test.

"We save money two ways by using these missile as surrogates. The first way is we don't have to buy new missiles to use as targets, which is a considerable cost. And the other is the government doesn't have to pay for the disposal of these missiles," Gibson said.

Missile that exceed their lifespan before being fired have to be removed from the inventory and sent out for proper disposal.

This creates significant costs as the prices for transporting the missile, disassembly, disposal of hazardous fuel waste, and other functions needed to dispose of the missile add up fast. Using them as targets however allows them to be destroyed and the remains disposed of using the normal procedures for after test cleanup, an expense that's already covered by the test program.

The patriot program has been operating on WSMR since the mid-70's supporting the development of the missile system and it's progressing models and builds.

"We've been developing and flying all the various missile types, we've been working on huge numbers of test that involve searching and tracking missions and software improvements and that continues today," Elowitz said.

• Date Taken: 10.23.2014
• Date Posted: 12.17.2014 14:01
• Story ID: 150548
• Location: WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NM, US