Aircraft Systems Integration Of Air-Launched Weapons

From the earliest days of aviation where the pilot would drop simple bombs by hand, to the highly agile, stealthy aircraft of today that can deliver smart ordnance with extreme accuracy, engineers have striven to develop the capability to deliver weapons against targets reliably, safely and with precision.

Aircraft Systems Integration of Air-Launched Weapons introduces the various aspects of weapons integration, primarily from the aircraft systems integration viewpoint, but also considers key parts of the weapon and the desired interactions with the aircraft required for successful target engagement.

Key features:

• Addresses the broad range of subjects that relate directly to the systems integration of air-launched weapons with aircraft, such as the integration process, system and subsystem architectures, the essential contribution that open, international standards have on improving interoperability and reducing integration costs and timescales
• Describes the recent history of how industry and bodies such as NATO have driven the need for greater interoperability between weapons and aircraft and worked to reduce the cost and timescales associated with the systems integration of complex air-launched weapons with aircraft
• Explores future initiatives and technologies relating to the reduction of systems integration costs and timescales

The systems integration of air-launched weapons with aircraft requires a multi-disciplinary set of engineering capabilities. As a typical weapons integration life-cycle spans several years, new engineers have to learn the skills required by on-the-job training and working with experienced weapons integrators. Aircraft Systems Integration of Air-Launched Weapons augments hands-on experience, thereby enabling the development of subject matter expertise more quickly and in a broader context than would be achieved by working through the life-cycle on one specific project. This book also serves as a useful revision source for experienced engineers in the field.

Keith Rigby, Autonomous Systems, BAE Systems Military Air Solutions, UK
Keith Rigby is Chief Weapons Engineer – Autonomous Systems, BAE Systems Military Air Solutions. He has spent his entire career with BAE Systems, starting as a graduate in 1984 within Armament Control Systems & progressing to a senior management position on the Tornado GR4 engineering team. He then becoming Head of Weapons Control & Integration within the Air Systems business before assuming his current position in November 2008. During the last 25 years he has been involved in all aspects of the design, development and certification of armament systems and has been a key player in a number of weapon integration programmes including the weaponisation of unmanned systems. He is the author of the Weapons Integration chapter in the Encyclopaedia of Aerospace Engineering.