U.S. Unveils 'MUTANT' Missiles That Morph In the Air

The United States Air Force wants to use twisting MUTANT missiles to blow fast-moving targets out of the air. The idea is that a missile launched from a jet would have an articulated head that could twist to help it change direction and hit targets. Some of the test footage makes it look like a missile nose cone strapped to a Slinky.

The twisted missiles are part of a project at the Air Force Research Laboratory called the Missile Utility Transformation via Articulated Nose Technology (MUTANT) project. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) revealed the project last week at the Air and Space Forces Association's Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado. 

The project is still in the early design and testing phase. According to AFRL, it’s a concept from the 1950s that wasn’t possible without modern technological developments. At the Symposium, AFRL showed off computer designed concept footage of the missile and also some on the ground testing footage. 

“Historically, size, weight and power of morphing technology has been prohibitive to a missile system level benefit. MUTANT is in the midst of tipping the scale in the morphing weapon’s favor,” AFRL said in a press release about the missile.

Right now, the MUTANT missile exists as a modified Hellfire. AFRL hasn’t fired one of these things in the air, and is currently using a rocket sled. A rocket sled is a long piece of track with a target at the end of it. Researchers strap the test missiles to this track and fire it down the range. It never leaves Earth, slams into the wall at the end, and allows the researchers to study the impact and effect of the missile without firing it in the air. Think of it as a car crash test range for weapons.

The Air Force wants MUTANT missiles because the stuff flying around in the air it may need to shoot down has become highly maneuverable. Typically a missile fired from a jet has a hard time changing trajectory, and making it more maneuverable sacrifices speed.  “[Control actuation systems] good for range (fins only) tend to be bad for maneuvering and agility,” AFRL said. “[Control actuation systems] good for maneuverability and agility (canards, wings, jets, thrust vectoring) tend to be bad for range due to drag or additional weight.”

The war in Ukraine has shown the impressive power of cheap drones. Both sides are using drones to scout enemy positions, drop explosives from the sky, and as cruise missiles. Drones are smaller, more maneuverable, and harder to hit than traditional missiles and aircraft.

The threat of hypersonic weapons has also upended traditional air defenses. The missiles are so fast that experts have said they’re impossible to knock out of the air with traditional means. Russia has used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine and has said it's working on a hypersonic nuclear weapon that has a glide reentry vehicle, which would allow it to travel fast while also maneuvering.

The U.S. military is working on several defenses against these weapons, including its own hypersonics and MUTANT missiles. The Air Force needs every advantage it can get. Lately, it’s had trouble hitting even slow moving objects. When it went on a tear shooting balloons out of the sky in February, it missed the first shot it took at the one floating above Lake Huron.