Powder trail generator for visual sighting of target drones

A prototype powder trail generator was designed, fabricated, flight tested, and delivered to the Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California. This generator emits a trail of powder with sufficient visibility to aid in the visual acquisition of a target drone. The powder generator functions under conditions that limit the use of oil smoke. Antiagglomerant-treated titanium dioxide pigment was dispersed with a wing pod unit that used high velocity gas jets to deagglomerate the powder before injection into a ram air tube. Flight tests were conducted which compared the powder trail with a conventional oil smoke trail, and aerial photographs showed that the brightness contrast of the powder smoke in the first plane length behind the plane exceeded that of the oil smoke at any location.