“The program name is derived from a thousand-year-old Chinese military designed crossbow catapult that launched multiple crossbow bolts with the pull of a single trigger, raining destruction down on armies from tremendous ranges,” the Air Force’s release regarding this latest test disclosed for what appears to be the first time. “These lethal devices were called Ji Long Che—Rapid Dragon Carts. Today, the Rapid Dragon concept is changing the game again, this time as an airborne delivery system for U.S. Air Force weapons. And like its namesake, these palletized munitions promise to unleash mighty salvos en masse on distant adversaries.”
AFRL says that this latest test over the Gulf of Mexico marks the culmination of the current Rapid Dragon test campaign, which started two years ago, but says that it already planning to conduct another end-to-end live-fire flight test using a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft next year. Air Mobility Command (AMC) C-17As, as well as AFSOC EC-130J Super Js, have been used in previous Rapid Dragon testing already.
“Rapid Dragon was able to accelerate development by building a broad and strong team. We were committed to a ’test often/learn-fast’ culture, dedicated to experimenting frequently and taking calculated risks,” Dr. Dean Evans, SDPE’s Rapid Dragon Program Manager, said in a statement. “Collaboration from the onset streamlined the process and accelerated development, involving groups from the program inception that are not normally included at the very early stages, and that has made all the difference.”
With the successful completion of the current round of Rapid Dragon testing and plans to continue this work in the coming year, the Air Force looks set to keep pushing this concept toward an operational capability, one that could expand its long-range strike options in any future contingency.
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