The first Mid-Range Munition (MRM) cartridge integration test ended with the round striking the target about three miles downrange, Raytheon Co. [RTN] announced.

General Dynamics Corp. [GD] and the Army also participated in the test.

The autonomously fired round struck the threat target from a beyond-line-of-sight range of 5.2 kilometers (about 3 statute miles).

MRM is a gun-fired, precision-guided projectile that provides beyond-line-of-sight engagement capabilities to brigade combat teams.

"This was the first completely autonomous imaging infrared-guided shot in the history of the MRM program," said James Riley, Raytheon Missile Systems’ vice president for Land Combat. "MRM’s beyond-line-of-sight capabilities will give Future Combat Systems brigade combat team soldiers, and potentially BCTs equipped with the Abrams tank, the ability to engage the enemy out of contact and win battles while minimizing friendly casualties."

The test verified two primary modes of operation: designate and autonomous. In designate mode, the round was initially guided to the target with a laser designator before switching to imaging infrared seeker guidance. In autonomous mode, the round was fired in the general direction of the target before the IIR seeker searched for and acquired the target.

NRO Satellite Is Launched On Delta IV Rocket From Cape Canaveral

A classified National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite launched Saturday night from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Fla., on a Delta IV heavy rocket provided by United Launch Alliance.

ULA is a joint venture of The Boeing Co. [BA] and Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT], and the Delta IV is a historically Boeing lifter. It was the first time an NRO payload was orbited by a Delta IV.

The effort also involved Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK], which designed and produced the nozzle for the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-built RS-68 engine as well as the nozzle’s thermal protection material, which is capable of shielding it from the extreme heat of launch when external temperatures can exceed 4,000 degrees F.

Pratt is a unit of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].

The Delta IV RS-68 is the largest hydrogen-fueled engine in the world, utilizing an ATK nozzle that is the first of its kind in a liquid booster engine. The nozzle is manufactured at the ATK Promontory, Utah, facility.

ATK also supplied 12 key composite structures for the Delta IV heavy launch vehicle: the interstage that provides the interface between the Common Booster Core (CBC) and the cryogenic second stage, two nose cones for the port and starboard strap-on CBC’s, three centerbodies that integrate the liquid oxygen (LO2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks, three thermal shields that protect the RS-68 engines during ignition and flight, and three LO2 skirts.