Cobham trials cold-gas technology
Defence group Cobham has demonstrated a reusable technology capable of extracting stores from bomb racks at the Overberg Test Centre in South Africa.
Cobham claims that its system is ‘inherently clean’ because it is able to eject the stores without pyrotechnics, eliminating accumulation of acidic debris and reducing the need for maintenance while cutting life-cycle costs and simplifying logistics.
During the trials, Cobham’s reusable cold-gas technology was attached to its Carrier Bomb Light Stores (CBLS) on a South African Air Force Hawk light attack jet. Four stores, each weighing 12.5kg, were then successfully released from the aircraft flying at a speed of 450 knots in level and dive positions.
The group said: ‘Installation of the cold-gas cartridge into an ejector-release unit is a simple and quick process requiring no modification to the aircraft while offering weight and space saving compared to compressor and accumulator systems.’
The cold-gas system is being made available for retrofit in around 1,000 Cobham CBLS practice-bomb systems. Cobham added that all future CBLS systems will be fitted with cold-gas cartridges.
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