IRIA News

The United States Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) successfully demonstrated the capability of a new palletized weapons system off northern Norway. 

The Rapid Dragon Palletized Effects System, capable of deploying long-range cruise missiles using standard airdrop procedures from a cargo aircraft, was successfully deployed from an MC-130J Commando II. This was the first-ever demonstration in Europe of Rapid Dragon.

The live fire of a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) long-range cruise missile was carried out on November 9, 2022, inside the Arctic Circle at Norway’s Andoya Space Center. The demonstration was conducted by SOCEUR in the presence of Norway, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

Rapid Dragon explained

The Air Force Rapid Dragon Experimentation Program is led and developed by the Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) and is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory in partnership with SOCEUR. The program began in late 2019 and achieved a live fire test in December 2021.

Rapid Dragon is a palletized munitions (traditional weapons) experimentation campaign for airdropping long-range cruise missiles placed on pallets that are parachuted from military airlift aircraft such as the C-130 and C-17.  The complete system is designed as a roll-on roll-off capability.

Weapons with preloaded targeting information are secured into a weapon release mechanism and loaded onto the airlift aircraft. When a target is selected and a strike request is made and coordinates are confirmed. Once deployed and stabilized under the parachute, weapons are systematically released from the cargo aircraft. Then a sling gate opens and the missiles drop out and proceed to the target.

Rapidly deployable palletized munitions can saturate the airspace with multiple weapons and effects, complicate adversary targeting solutions, open access for critical target prosecution, and deplete an adversary’s air defense munitions stockpile, according to Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

“The Rapid Dragon Experimentation Program is appropriately named, as it advanced rapidly from a concept on paper to a live fire using a developmental prototype in 24 months,” said Dr. Dean Evans, Rapid Dragon program manager. “Now less than three years from the program’s inception, Rapid Dragon is being used by SOCEUR in the Arctic Circle. This is a testament to the team’s focus on rapid fielding to meet warfighter needs,” he added.

Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) commander, said the “Palletized Effects is a fantastic example of what happens when we empower our Airmen to solve complex problems. AFSOC’s greatest value to the joint force as well as allies and partners is when we find unconventional ways to deliver airpower.”

“Now, more than ever we must take a different approach to accelerating capability to the warfighter,” said AFRL Commander Major General Heather Pringle. “Rapid Dragon is a fantastic example of the speed at which technologists and warfighters can work — the design, development, prototyping, and experimentation of new capabilities can get to the field on operationally relevant timelines.” 

Participation of NATO allies

The successful demonstration under the U.S. Special Operations Command-led Operational Series ATREUS is designed to bring NATO allies and partners together through training on capabilities throughout the theater. “This effort is meant to increase integration of both conventional and Special Operations Forces from participating nations and enhance interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners,” Operation ATREUS lead Lt. Col. Lawrence Melnicoff said.

“Participation from our allies is the cornerstone of ATREUS iterations. Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom have been regular participants in the most recent ATREUS iterations throughout 2021 and 2022,” Melnicoff said.

This live fire in Norway was the seventh iteration of ATREUS in the European theater but the first combined and joint effort with participation from ally nations of Norway, Poland, and Romania.

This particular demonstration also highlighted the growing strategic significance of the Arctic region, and the potential for conflict there with Russia. “We’re trying to deter Russian aggression, expansionist behavior, by showing enhanced capabilities of the allies … without being escalatory,” Lt. Col. Melnicoff told Stars and Stripes.