U.S. Army announced that on May 20, at Fort Rucker, successful tests were conducted of a new APKWS rocket launcher integrated on the TRV 150 heavy logistics drone by Service Engineering, with participation from defense industry companies.
As Service Engineering Vice President for Business Development Clark Dutterer noted, unlike the typical process where the government issues requirements before industry responds, the company decided to explore the capability on its own initiative and self-funded the project. Testing was conducted with participation from a number of interested U.S. military organizations.
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This is not the first time APKWS precision rockets have been test-fired from this drone previous tests in July demonstrated a single-rocket configuration but this iteration featured three rockets, the number the launcher integrated under the drone is designed to carry.
The tests focused both on the performance of the drone's flight control software and on physical characteristics, including an assessment of the copter's behavior during the actual moment of launch.
While existing rocket pods such as those from Arnold Defense could be used for APKWS launches, a more pragmatic solution was developed for the TRV 150 in the form of direct airframe mounts and launch tubes.
Given that the TRV 150's payload capacity is listed by BAE Systems at 68 kg, three APKWS rockets each weighing 15.8 kg plus the weight of the launch tubes likely represents the current maximum load. Plans have previously been reported to increase the payload to 300 kg, which would enable it to carry a significantly larger number of APKWS rounds.
This configuration could be used for both ground and air target engagements, with the latter being particularly interesting given that it would be far cheaper than using an F-16 to shoot down strike drones with APKWS though it is worth noting that a fighter can carry an order of magnitude more of these rockets per sortie.
It is worth noting that both elements of the combination the APKWS rockets and the Malloy T-150 copter (of which the TRV 150 is a modified variant) are already in service with Ukraine's Defense Forces, making it plausible that this pairing could eventually be tested in real combat conditions against russian drones.
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