Kinetic energy rod warhead with blast fragmentation

Abstract

A hybrid kinetic energy rod warhead includes a projectile core including a plurality of projectiles, explosive segments about the projectile core, and isolators between the explosive segments. There is an initiator for each explosive segment and a shell about the explosive segments. A deployable casing including multiple fragment members is attached to the shell, and there is a housing about the deployable casing.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This subject invention relates to improvements in kinetic energy rod warheads.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Destroying missiles such as tactical ballistic missiles, airborne targets such as cruise missiles, aircraft, re-entry vehicles, and other targets falls into three primary classifications: “hit-to-kill” vehicles, blast fragmentation warheads, and kinetic energy rod warheads.[0003]“Hit-to-kill” vehicles are typically launched into a position proximate a target via a missile such as the Patriot, Trident or MX missile. The kill vehicle is navigable and designed to strike the re-entry vehicle to render it inoperable. Countermeasures, however, can be used to avoid the “hit-to-kill” vehicle. Moreover, biological warfare bomblets and chemical warfare submunition payloads are carried by some “hit-to-kill” threats, and one or more of these bomblets or chemical submunition payloads can survive and cause heavy casualties even if the “hit-to-kill” vehicle acc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]Embodiments of the invention provide an improved kinetic energy rod warhead with increased versatility and lethality. In one aspect, the kinetic energy rod warhead is a hybrid combining characteristics of both a kinetic energy rod warhead and a blast fragmentation warhead with the potential for high lethality against dissimilar targets without occupying the volume required by two separate and independent warheads. As a result, there can be more choice of targets in flight, with increased effectiveness, while minimizing overall volume, weight and complexity.

[0020]The invention thus provides an improved way to optionally but effectively destroy targets such as TBMs, or airborne (ABTs or “soft”) targets and targets which may be at relatively large miss distances.

Problems solved by technology

Moreover, biological warfare bomblets and chemical warfare submunition payloads are carried by some “hit-to-kill” threats, and one or more of these bomblets or chemical submunition payloads can survive and cause heavy casualties even if the “hit-to-kill” vehicle accurately strikes the target.

Blast fragmentation type warheads, unlike “hit-to-kill” vehicles, are not navigable.

The fragments, however, are not always effective at destroying the target and, again, biological bomblets and / or chemical submunition payloads may survive and cause heavy casualties.

Although a kinetic energy rod warhead may be highly lethal against targets such as tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs), for airborne targets (ABTs) such as cruise missiles or “soft” low altitude targets, miss distances can sometimes be relatively large.

For the most part, however, these patents concerning blast fragmentation do not include the advantageous features of a kinetic energy rod warhead, nor do such patents take into consideration miss distances or the countervailing considerations of weight, arrangement of explosive, and / or hardware configurations that must be accounted for in a kinetic energy rod warhead.

Alternatively, adding both a kinetic energy rod warhead and a blast fragmentation warhead to the carrier missile would be more cumbersome, and it would increase the weight to be carried.

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