The SMART-1 jet goes Military!


Now known as the Small Manned Aerial Radar Target, Model 1 (SMART - 1), the tiny jet aircraft that have been performing air shows for the last quarter century have been “drafted” by the military.

The low radar cross section (RCS), manned feature, dependability and economy make the aircraft a natural threat representative and support system for:

  • New system research, design and development
  • Early system testing
  • Unit training
  • Major exercise threat display activities
  • Homeland defense development, testing and training efforts


Testimonials

"The SMART-1 Team illustrated the value of a man-in-cockpit versus using a drone. We were speaking directly with their mission control and the pilot to make immediate changes to azimuth, elevation, and speed to help us improve our data. SMART-1 also exhibited flexibility with operating from a local, civilian airfield and not a specific test range. The entire SMART-1 team are professional and valuable team players!"


~ Mark Combs
AN/SPQ-9B and FlexDAR T&E
AVW Technologies inc.
Mission date: 6-25-20

"The small size of the Smart-1 made it a very challenging and realistic target, which suited the needs of ACTD perfectly. Since this was both an evaluation and a demonstration of a new technology, it was critical that aircraft strictly adhere to the briefed profiles but also have the flexibility to change the plan on the fly.

Your professionalism, dedication, and flexibility were greatly appreciated, both by my staff and the fighter pilots you flew against. Again, my sincere thanks to you and your team for your outstanding support. We very much look forward to working with you in our future exercises."


~ Larry K. Arnold, Major General
Headquarters, First Air Force
Tyndall AFB, FL

"The support provided by Aerial Productions International, Inc. was critical to the successful accomplishment of the Joint Cruise Missile Defense evaluation of integrated air defense system effectiveness against the cruise missile threat. Utilizing a piloted asset, such as the SMART-1, with representative cruise missile characteristics can greatly increase the value to both evaluation and training activities when a cruise missile threat presentation is required. This is a capability that should be further developed and considered for support of future events."


~ Col. Larry McNew, USAF
Director Joint Cruise Missile Defense

"The future battlefield will see smaller and smaller enemy attack systems like cruise missiles, UAVs, and other aerial threat platforms. To ensure forces are prepared to face these future threats a system like SMART-1 is needed to provide the warfighter with a viable and responsive threat training system and the material developer with an affordable and representative threat testing system. SMART-1 provides these characteristics and more, plus allows the users to integrate this manned controlled micro-jet into operations on and off of military testing ranges, anywhere in the world."


~ LTC Paul McGuire, US Army
Deputy Director Joint Cruise Missile Defense