Rapid Dragon is a palletized weapons module which is airdropped from cargo planes and deploys flying munitions, typically cruise missiles. Developed by the United States Air Force and Lockheed, the airdrop rigged pallets, called "deployment boxes" provide a low cost method allowing unmodified C-130 or C-17 cargo plane to be temporarily repurposed as a stand-off bomber able to mass launch any variant of long or short range AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles against land or naval targets.[1] The size of the deployment boxes is configurable to fit mission and dropship dimensions supporting launch from four to 45 AGM-158 JASSM-ER cruise missiles[3] to strike targets at a range of 925 km (575 mi), expanding to 1,900 km (1,200 mi) when large numbers of JASSM-XR become available in 2024. The system has been successfully used with C-130 and C-17 cargo planes to strike both land and sea targets with armed and test version JASSM-ERs. Future development will generalize the system beyond AGM-158 family missiles to include JDAM bombs, sea mines, drones and other missile systems as well as supporting other cargo and non cargo aircraft.[2] The current version uses unmodified cargo aircraft, and deployment requires no additional crew skills beyond those for airdrops of supplies or vehicles. The system can be thought of as a smart bomb bay in a box and includes an interface allowing targeting information to be fed to the munitions from a distant fire control center.

Rapid Dragon missile deployment system
A Rapid Dragon module being loaded on a C-130 for airdrop.
Type	Palletized airdrop standoff missile launch system
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2021 (JASSM-ER successful test)
Used by	United States Air Force
Production history
Designer	US Air Force Research Lab SDPE group Air Force Futures
Designed	2020
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Systima Technologies Safran Electronics & Defense[1]
Produced	2022 (low production)
Variants	C-130:- 6 barrel module (max 2) C-17: 9 barrel module (max 5)[2]
Specifications
Length	17 ft (520 cm) (approx.)
Width	8.4 ft (260 cm) for 6 and 9 barrel configurations
Crew	4 (Airdrop cargo crew)
Barrels	4 to 9+ (configurable to cargo deck size)
Effective firing range	JASSM-ER: > 925 km (575 mi) JASSM-XR: > 1,900 km (1,200 mi) LRASM (naval targets): > 800 km (500 mi)+ JDAM-ER: > 80 km (50 mi)
Feed system	vertical drop
Main armament	AGM-158 variants (anti surface & anti naval)
Payload capacity	4,000 kg (8,800 lb) to 9,900 kg (21,800 lb)
Launch platform	Pallet-airdrop capable aircraft:   C-130, C-17 (confirmed compatibility)

Overview

The project name is derived from a tenth century Chinese mass fire weapon known as the Ji Long Che which could simultaneously launch large numbers of long range crossbow missiles from a safe distance.[1] Similarly, the present day Rapid Dragon provides the tactical advantage of saturating a target's defenses from standoff weapon distances well outside the threat zone near the target. Operationally, it is a force multiplier and can be rapid fielded, leveraging existing fleets of airlift assets offering the option of significant surges in mass attack missions. Strategically, it allows the United States to rapidly provide strategic strike capability to any of its foreign partner possessing the commonplace capacity to air drop supplies from cargo planes.[2] It also increases the amount of places a cruise missile-carrying aircraft can deploy from and complicates an adversary's attempts to destroy their airbases. While a B-52 Stratofortress requires a 10,000 ft (3,000 m) concrete runway to take off and land, a C-130 can operate from 3,000 ft (910 m) stretches of less developed surfaces.[4]

Developed from 2020 to 2021 by a team of US Air Force development groups and industry partners, Rapid Dragon has all capabilities self contained on its drop pallet, allowing a standard military cargo plane to be used at any time as a stand-off strategic bomber. For example, using two Rapid Dragon pallets, a C-130 could launch 12 JASSM cruise missiles from a safe distance of 1000 or 1900 kilometers from target. The larger C-17 could accommodate 5 Rapid Dragon pallets each carrying 9 missiles for a mission releasing 45 missiles with 500kg warheads. In a test over the Gulf of Mexico on December 16, 2021, an armed Rapid Dragon received target data from a distant command and control node while in flight, used the data to target its armed JASSM, was airdropped and successfully deployed its payloads, the live round of which destroyed its naval target. The cargo plane- an MC-130J was flown by an Air Force Special Operations Command operational flight crew and carried a 4 pack version of the Rapid Dragon modular missile cassette. The airdrop crew treated the load as a standard supply drop with the pallet's Rapid Dragon's control unit autonomously receiving command and control data which it used to program the JASSM's path and target. The other 3 bays of the released 4 pack palette had ballast rounds with the same shape and weight in order to test the system's method of preventing missile releases from conflicting with each other.[1] To maintain consistent stability during drops, these non munition ballast rounds will continue to be used for missions requiring fewer missiles than the module's full capacity.

Due to the vulnerability of sophisticated air defense systems such as S-300 and S-400 to mass attacks from low flying cruise missiles, it is thought that Rapid Dragon is well suited for swarm tactics missions to suppress enemy air defenses with large numbers of JASSM-ER optionally accompanied by swarms of miniature spoofing decoy drones released from a second airdrop module. [5][6]

Future work: Live tests with C-17s, AGM-158C Long Range Anti Ship (LRASM) and 1900km range AGM-158D JASSM-XR which became available in low production numbers in 2021.[7] The Air Force's Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) group is also researching integration of Boeing's lower cost but shorter range (80 km) JDAM-ER bombs, and is working with Raytheon to support Rapid Dragon launch of ADM-160 MALD decoys.[8]

In November 2022 the first European-theater live fire demonstration of a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile were performed with a MC-130J at Andøya Space test range in Norway.[9]

Historical Context

• Cargo aircraft have been used in an offensive role since the Vietnam War when C-130s were used to drop BLU-82 bombs. Despite losses in Vietnam due to ground fire, the technique continued to be used such as in the 1991 Iraq War and in Afghanistan with larger GBU-43/B MOAB bombs.[10] Due to the extended range of its missiles, Rapid Dragon allows use of cargo planes as arsenal ships facing much more heavily contested target airspaces.

• Using cargo planes to launch missiles has been around since the 1970s. In 1974, the US demonstrated the feasibility of launching an ICBM from practically anywhere when it test fired a 17.4 m (57 ft), 40,000 kg (88,000 lb) LGM-30 Minuteman airdropped from a C-5A Galaxy.

• In the 1980s, a lower cost alternative to the B-1 bomber known as the Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft (CMCA) was designed, configuring a 747-200 cargo airframe as a special purpose mass launcher of from 50 to 100 AGM-86 ALCM missiles. Like the Rapid Dragon, missiles were released rapidly from the rear of the aircraft and were dynamically targeted by an onboard control system.[11] Rapid dragon uses the stand-off arsenal ship and cost cutting orientation of the CMCA project adapting the concept to a roll on, roll off capability which can be rapidly used with virtually any of the numerous rear ramp airdrop cargo aircraft operated by friends and allies of the US.[7]

• Airdrops of supplies have been commonplace since World War II. Rapid Dragon differs from modern palletized airdrops in that the parachute is rigged so that the missile cargo is oriented nose down. As each missile is released in series, it falls out of its barrel like cell, its wings and tail deploy, the engine ignites and the missile performs a pull up maneuver and proceeds to its target.[1]

Rapid Dragon adds standoff range and modularity to prior offensive airdrop approaches, allowing vulnerable but massive capacity cargo planes to be used at much greater distances from target, allowing the greater flexibility and lower cost of temporarily repurposing unmodified cargo planes as standoff cruise missile bombers. Current research efforts include enhancing Rapid Dragon to support missions such as precision aerial mine laying and drone dispersal.[2][8]

Notes

References

• "Rapid Dragon's first live fire test of a Palletized Weapon System deployed from a cargo aircraft destroys target". Air Force Material Command. Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs. December 16, 2021. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• "Rapid Dragon Delivers Palletized Cruise Missile from Cargo Aircraft". AFRL. Air Force Research Laboratory. February 25, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• Hambling, David (June 3, 2020). "Why U.S. Air Force's CLEAVER Could Be A Step Change In Air Weapons". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• Hollings, Alex (June 28, 2022). "Rapid Dragon: The US Military's Plan to Turn Cargo Planes into Arsenal Ships". Sandboxx. 19fortyfive Corp. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• Hollings, Alex (June 29, 2022b). "Rapid Dragon". 1945 News. 19fortyfive Corp. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• Hollings, Alex (July 21, 2022c). "The S-400 myth: Why Russia's air defense prowess is exaggerated". Sandboxx News. 19fortyfive Corp. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
• Host, Pat (October 1, 2021). "US AFRL plans Rapid Dragon palletized munitions experiments with additional weapons". Janes. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
• Jenkins, Dennis R. (1999). B-1 Lancer, The Most Complicated Warplane Ever Developed. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071346948.
• Mizokami, Kyle (December 22, 2021). "How the Air Force Turned a Cargo Plane into a Bomber". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2022-07-23.

External links

• Lockheed Martin overview on YouTube
• Rapid Dragon - Cargo Dropped Cruise Missiles introduction video on YouTube