AAWSAP DIRD, Space Access: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could Go, March 2010

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UNCLASSIFIED/;'FOR: OFFI&IAk W&lii 8Pn.Y
Appendix C: TAV Operational Costs
Art Robinson was the deputy program manager for the MDC Manned Aerospace Vehicle
Group at MDC Astronautics, Huntington Beach. Working with Art, the St. Louis part of
the team prepared a work breakdown structure for servicing and maintaining an Air
Force transatmospheric vehicle (TAV) based on a B-52 squadron. Larry Fogel of
Decision Sciences visited several B-52 bases and discussed the operational concept and
repair/maintenance work structure with the B-52 crews and maintenance personnel.
The result was an estimate of the costs for operating a squadron of TAVs that had the
same flight frequency as the B-52 squadron. The result for the one-and-a-half-stage
TAV is shown in Figure 45. As might be expected, orbital operations are substantially
more costly than atmospheric operations (aerodynamic cruise of hypersonic long-range
glide). With an operational range greater than a refueled B-52, the TAV has a lower
cost than the once-refueled B-52. The orbital cannot be compared directly with a B-52
since in achieving orbit the TAV has essentially infinite cruise range and duration limited
only by the crew. The concept of operations was essentially that shown in Figure 37
installed on a U.S. Air Force SAC base. Although the SAC flight crews concentrated on
potential nuclear missions, the presentation focused on a wide spectrum of kinetic
penetrators installed in a rocket-accelerated entry nose cone. The terminal speed of
the entry nose cone was in the 12,000 to 14,000 feet/second range. At that speed the
energy delivered per unit weight was much greater than a spherical charge of HBX-6
because the kinetic energy was directly delivered to the target. The weapons spectrum
could address a very wide range of targets that could be disabled or made
nonfunctional or be destroyed with minimal collateral damage.
Cost
$97,000,000 tmospheric Cmise
$251,000,000 Orbital
Cost $71,000,000 B-52 only*
140 000,000 Refueled B-52
Larry Fogel
Decision Sciences
*annual costs per DAA (14 vehicles)
Titan Corporation
Spring 1984
Figure 45. McDonnell Douglas Astronautics (Huntington Beach)-Funded Study of TAV Operational Costs
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