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The Air-to-Ground Missiles Systems (AGMS) Project Management Office (PMO) chose to invest in hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulation as an integral part of their Longbow/HELLFIRE (Helicopter Launched, Fire-and-Forget) Modular Missile System program throughout the development and production phases. This investment has resulted in two HWIL simulations, developed by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, that have had unprecedented success in program support from the early development through production phases. The Millimeter Simulation System 1 (MSS-1) facility is capable of edge-of- the-envelope performance analysis and verification using high- fidelity target, background, and countermeasures signature modeling. The System Test/Acceptance Facility (STAF), developed in partnership with Redstone Technical Test Center, tests full-up missiles for production lot acceptance. Between these two facilities, HWIL simulation is responsible for pre- flight confidence testing of missile hardware and software, software independent verification and validation (IV&V) testing, comprehensive performance evaluation, component verification, production lot acceptance, and data gathering for the shelf life extension program. One payoff of the MSS-1 HWIL investment has been an extremely effective flight test program with MSS-1 receiving credit for saving three flight tests and documenting over 40 failure modes. With the advent of the Performance Based Specification, the MSS-1 has become involved in continuous verification of high level specifications since contractor controlled, low-level specifications are subject to change. The STAF has saved 8 million annually through providing a non-destructive lot acceptance-testing paradigm, and further benefited the production phase by discovering three production problems. This paper will highlight the innovative uses of HWIL simulation as utilized in the Longbow/HELLFIRE program and document the successes demonstrated as this program has transitioned from development into the production phases.
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