Course Description

Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering short courses are available through AIAA, Georgia Tech, ATI, and K2B as an on-site public offering, on-site at your facility, or as a live webinar. Each attendee receives a copy of the course notes.  If a course attendee would like to have a copy of my Latest textbook Missile Design Guide as part of the course, it will be provided at additional cost.

Overview videos of my short course are available from AOC and AIAA. A free 60 minute Overview of Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering is available for AOC members on the web site  https://www.crows.org/page/joinnow . A free 60 minute video of my AIAA Distinguished Lecture is available on the web site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBiOYsmLMOo  . Finally, an on-demand 90 minute video is available on the AIAA web site http://aiaa.mycrowdwisdom.com/diweb/catalog/item/id/4687618 .

A video of my  33-hour course Missile Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Propulsion, Aerodynamics, Weight, Flight Performance, Guidance, Lethality, System Engineering, and Development is available on the AIAA web site Missile Design: A Comprehensive Guide to Propulsion, Aerodynamics, Weight, Flight Performance, Guidance, Lethality, System Engineering, and Development – On-Demand Short Course (mycrowdwisdom.com) 

A video of my 27-hour course on Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering is available on the AOC web site https://www.crows.org/page/MissileCourse?&hhsearchterms=%22fleeman%22 

A video of my 12-hour course Missile Aerodynamics, Propulsion, and Guidance is available on the AIAA web site Missile Aerodynamics, Propulsion, and Guidance – On-Demand Short Course (mycrowdwisdom.com) 

Options for the on-site course include:

1-Day Course on Missile Systems Engineering

This course is oriented toward new hires in missile systems engineering. It covers the fundamentals of missile systems engineering. Provided are system-level assessments of the missile systems engineering considerations for the environment (storage, transportation, carriage), launch platform type (air, ground, naval) and constraints (geometry, weight, loading, launcher, safety, observables, survivability, avionics), and targeting (C4ISR, fire control system). Videos illustrate missile systems engineering activities.

1-Day Course on Maximizing Missile Flight Performance

This course is oriented toward new hires in missile flight performance. It addresses the parameters/technologies that maximize missile flight performance, tools for conceptual design prediction of missile flight performance, and examples of flight performance for rocket-powered, ramjet-powered and turbojet-powered missiles as well as guided bombs. The emphasis is on physics-based prediction equations, to better illustrate the most important, driving considerations and to provide a broad range of applicability. Videos illustrate missile flight performance considerations.

1-Day Course on Missile Design

This general short course is oriented toward new hires in missile program management, marketing, system analysis, engineering, and others working in the area of missile systems development. The course presents the key elements of missile conceptual design. It addresses the primary  considerations in meeting missile performance, cost, risk, and measures of merit requirements for conceptual design. The prediction methods presented are generally simple closed-form analytical expressions that are physics-based, to provide better insight into the primary driving parameters. Typical values of missile parameters and the characteristics of current operational missiles are discussed. Also discussed are the enabling subsystems and technologies for missiles and the current/projected state-of-the-art of missiles. Videos illustrate missile design considerations.

2-Day Course on Missile Propulsion

A system-level, integrated method is provided for the missile propulsion system design, development, analysis, and system engineering activities in addressing requirements such as cost, performance, risk, and launch platform integration. The prediction methods presented are generally simple closed-form analytical expressions that are physics-based, to provide better insight into the primary driving parameters. Sizing examples are presented for rocket-powered, ramjet-powered, and turbo-jet powered baseline missiles. Typical values of missile propulsion parameters and the characteristics of current operational missiles are discussed as well as the enabling subsystems and technologies for missile propulsion and the current/projected state-of-the-art. Videos illustrate missile propulsion development activities and performance. Attendees receive course notes. The instructor’s latest textbook Missile Design Guide (Fleeman, AIAA, 2022) may be provided as part of the course registration.

2 Day Course on Missile Guidance. 

A system-level, integrated method is provided on missile guidance design, development, analysis, and system engineering activities in addressing requirements such as cost, performance, risk, and launch platform integration. The prediction methods presented are generally simple closed-form analytical expressions that are physics-based, to provide better insight into the primary driving parameters. Typical values of missile guidance parameters and the characteristics of current operational missiles are discussed as well as the enabling subsystems and technologies for missile guidance and the current/projected state-of-the-art. Seeker/sensor/data link alternatives include radar, infrared, and laser. Conceptual design methods are presented for predicting seeker and seeker dome range performance and accuracy.  Seeker robustness considerations include performance with adverse weather, clutter, automatic target recognition, and countermeasures.  Navigation alternatives include Global Positioning Satellite (GPS), inertial reference, terrain contour matching (TERCOM), and digital scene matching.  Flight control alternatives include tail, canard, wing, thrust vector, and reaction jet control.  Conceptual design methods are presented for predicting power supply and actuator weight and performance.  Carriage and fire control interfaces are presented for aircraft, ground vehicle, ship, and submarine launch platforms.  Comparisons are presented of terminal guidance alternatives.  Discussion of guidance simulation includes conceptual design modeling, preliminary design modeling, six-degrees of freedom digital modeling, and hardware-in-loop modeling.  The missile guidance development process, facilities, and development tests are presented.  Videos illustrate missile guidance activities and performance. Attendees receive course notes. The instructor’s latest textbook Missile Design Guide (Fleeman, AIAA, 2022) may be provided as part of the course registration.

2-Day Course on Missile Aerodynamics.

A system-level approach is provided for missile aerodynamic design, development, and system engineering. The methods presented are generally simple closed-form analytical expressions that are physics-based, to provide better insight into the primary driving parameters. Sizing examples are presented for rocket-powered missiles, ramjet-powered missiles, turbo-jet powered missiles, and guided bombs. Typical values of missile aerodynamic parameters and the characteristics of current operational missiles are presented. Videos illustrate missile aerodynamic development activities and performance. The instructor’s latest textbook Missile Design Guide (Fleeman, AIAA, 2022) may be provided as part of the course registration.

2-Day Course on Overview of Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering

This course provides a first-level overview of missile design, development, and system engineering.  A system-level, integrated method is provided for missile design, technologies, development, analysis, and system engineering activities in addressing requirements such as cost, performance, risk, and launch platform integration. The prediction methods presented are generally simple closed-form analytical expressions that are physics-based, to provide better insight into the primary driving parameters. Sizing examples are presented for rocket-powered, ramjet-powered, and turbo-jet powered baseline missiles as well as guided bombs. Typical values of missile parameters and the characteristics of current operational missiles are discussed as well as the enabling subsystems and technologies for missiles and the current/projected state-of-the-art. Videos illustrate missile design, performance, development, and system engineering.  The priority of the material to be covered is based on the interests of the class attendees.

3-Day Course on Hypersonic Missile Design

This course addresses hypersonic missile design, development, analysis, and system engineering. Over 90 videos illustrate hypersonic missile development activities and performance. Problem reviews are provided at the end of each chapter. What You Will Learn

•          Drivers for Hypersonic Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering

•          Conceptual Design Criteria for Hypersonic Missiles

•          Hypersonic Missile Configuration Design/Sizing

•          Prediction of Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Weight, and Flight Performance

•          Flight Trajectory Alternatives

•          Other Measures of Merit Sizing/Prediction, Including Missile Seeker Alternatives and Performance, Guidance Alternatives and Accuracy, Warhead Alternatives and Lethality, Observables and Observable Reduction, and Cost

•          System Engineering/Integration with Launch Platform and Fire Control System

•          Development Process for Hypersonic Missile System and Technologies

3-Day Course on Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering

This course provides material on missile design, performance, development and system engineering. Operational missile examples include missile defense, strategic ballistic, precision strike, battlefield, and anti-aircraft missiles. Available are system sizing examples for prediction of rocket, ramjet and turbojet powered missiles as well as guided bombs. The course covers approximately 60% of the material from the textbook Missile Design Guide. Over seventy videos illustrate missile design, performance, development, and system engineering. The priority of the material to be covered is based on the interests of the class attendees. As an on-site course, the course may be tailored to the customer's specific problems of interest (e.g., air defense missiles, precision strike missiles, cruise missiles, air-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, UCAV weapons) and may address one-on-one and round table discussion.

4- or 5-Day Course on Missile Design, Development, and System Engineering

This is the most popular customer on-site course. It provides in-depth material on missile design, performance, development, and system engineering. System sizing examples and predictions are available for rocket, ramjet and turbojet powered missiles and guided bombs. Each attendee may design, build and fly a small air-powered rocket, based on the analysis and prediction methods of the course. The course is based on material from the textbook Missile Design Guide. Over 100 videos illustrate missile design, performance, development, and system engineering. As an on-site course, the course can address the customer's specific problems of interest and includes one-on-one and round table discussion.  The priority of the material to be covered is based on the interests of the customer/class attendees. The menu of areas of emphasis, to be voted by the class attendees, is:

• • Type (tactical, strategic)

  • Targets (space, air, ground, ship)

  • Launch Platforms (air, ground, naval)

  • Missile Maximum Speed (subsonic, supersonic, hypersonic)

  • Flight Profile (seeker guidance, command guidance, cruise, glide, ballistic)

  • Flight Range (within visual range, beyond visual range)

  • Topics

    • Aerodynamics (force and moment prediction, flight control alternatives, maneuver laws, wing and tail sizing)

    • Propulsion (none, solid propellant rocket, ramjet, turbojet, inlet/booster integration)

    • Weight (structure/materials, airframe manufacturing, aerodynamic heating/insulation, subsystems)

    • Flight performance

    • Sensor/seeker/data link (radar, infrared, laser, GPS/INS)

    • Lethality (warhead, fuzing)

    • Guidance, navigation & control

    • Miss distance

    • Survivability (alternative approaches, radar cross section, infrared signature)/safety/reliability

    • Cost (development, production, logistics)

    • Launch platform compatibility (interfaces/constraints, carriage, launch/separation, fire control system/display, environment)

    • Sizing examples (solid propellant rocket, ramjet, turbojet, guided bomb, computer-aided conceptual design tools, soda straw rocket design-build-fly, Pareto and uncertainty analysis, house of quality, design of experiment)

    • Missile system/technology development

  • One-on-one/round table discussion