| Many flights of the Tomahawk cruise missile are for purposes of training the launch or operations crews, or for conducting performance tests of the missile itself. For these flights, Pioneer provides a “plug-in” module containing a first-stage decelerator drogue parachute and a large parachute for soft landing. The module is installed in a fuselage compartment that normally contains any of several types of warhead. Packing both the drogue and the 97.5-ft-diameter main parachute into the relatively small volume available requires compression by hydraulic pressure, a lengthy period of “soak” at high temperature, and X-ray examination to evaluate the status of certain components within the pack. Other similar systems provided by Pioneer include: AGM-109 Air-Launched Cruise Missile BGM-34 and AQM-34 Surveillance Drone BQM-34A and BQM-34E Target Drones NASA DAST Vehicle (Mid-air Recovered) |