Hellfire technology takes positive step

RICHLAND – A simple push of the button now gives Army soldiers in the Middle East all the information they need to determine if a Hellfire missile will fire properly when launched.

More than 100 missiles in Iraq and Afghanistan have been equipped with special monitoring devices developed at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

Another 675 units are on order.

“For us, it just indicates we’re making a difference … and supporting our soldiers,” said Kurt Silvers, PNNL project manager. “This allows war fighters, or soldiers, to worry about themselves and their missions and less about their technology.”

The Captive Carry Health Monitoring Devices were developed for the Department of Defense under a project led by the Joint Attack Munition Systems Project Office in Huntsville, Ala.

Researchers at Richland’s national lab previously developed four other monitoring systems, including one that was used on pallets of munitions.

Advances in technology have made it possible – and affordable – to develop the first system to be used directly on a missile, Silvers said.

The Hellfire missiles, which are used on Apache and Kiowa helicopters, cost about $100,000 each, and the health-monitoring devices run about $200, Silvers said.

If a missile is deployed, the device and all of its data goes with it.

The Captive Carry device tracks temperature, vibration and how long the missile’s guidance system was activated.

Those factors can damage the missile’s internal systems, causing failure, Silvers explained.

Currently, the data is manually tracked by teams, which is time-consuming and can be inaccurate, Silvers said.

The next round of monitoring devices also will track humidity and shock, Silvers said.

“These weapons must operate without failure in incredibly harsh conditions,” Michael Adams, project manager at Joint Attack Munition Systems Project Office said in a release. “The device takes the guesswork out of capturing and recording this vital information.”

The devices can show that a particular missile was on a helicopter for, say, 1,000 hours, and also be able to show how many hours were on an Apache helicopter versus a Kiowa helicopter. They each produce different vibrations.

PNNL researchers have been working on the special devices for about two years. It took about nine months to develop and five or six months for qualifying tests, he said.

It functions with two high-tech, long-life AA lithium batteries – not the kind found in stores – that won’t have to be changed for 10 years.

Three Northwest companies – Manufacturing Services Inc. in Kennewick, R & B Designs in the Spokane area and Heppner Molds in Idaho – also have been involved in designing and producing the devices.

The health-monitoring systems have a double value to the military, Silvers said. They provide an immediate benefit for tracking missile readiness and a long-term benefit of collecting data about missiles, such as how long is too long for a missile to be on a base, he said.

“The device is not mission critical … but it helps out,” Silvers said. “It’s crucial when you’re in a combat situation and you need to know the missile’s going to work.”