Explosively Formed Blade Warhead for Rocket Interception
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fragmentation warheads are ineffective against short-range artillery or surface-to-surface rockets due to their low velocity, requiring a high-velocity impact that classical fragmentation warheads cannot reliably provide without increasing size and cost.
Innovation Solution
A warhead system employing explosively-formed-projectile charges that generate blade projectiles perpendicular to their length, deployable at various angles to ensure effective interception of short-range rockets, with a detonation system and sensors to selectively detonate charges based on target position and velocity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If classical fragmentation warheads are used, then the warhead can be made compact and low cost, but the velocity of fragments is insufficient to reliably defeat short-range rockets
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state and formation process of the projectiles by using explosive forming technology. Instead of traditional fragmentation, the liner is accelerated by explosive detonation to form high-velocity blade projectiles. This parameter change in the formation mechanism enables achieving supersonic velocities (Mach 2-5) while maintaining a compact warhead structure, resolving the contradiction between fragment velocity and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes the phase transition of explosive material from solid to high-pressure gas during detonation. This phase transition generates the enormous pressures needed to accelerate the metallic liner to high velocities. The explosive phase transition is the key mechanism that enables high-velocity blade projectile generation without requiring complex mechanical propulsion systems, thus resolving the velocity-complexity contradiction.
2Force
If larger fragments are used to increase impact energy, then the kinetic energy increases, but the number density of fragments drops rapidly with distance reducing probability of intercept
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the metallic liner into multiple blade projectiles during the explosive forming process. The liner is accelerated and formed into several discrete blades that are distributed in space. This segmentation allows the warhead to generate multiple high-energy impactors simultaneously, maintaining both high impact energy and sufficient quantity density to ensure intercept probability, resolving the contradiction between force and quantity of substance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional spherical or conical charge geometries to elongated cylindrical charges with specific aspect ratios. This dimensional change in charge geometry enables the formation of blade projectiles with optimized surface area to mass ratios. The elongated charge configuration allows generating multiple blades with high kinetic energy while maintaining adequate number density, resolving the force-quantity contradiction through geometric optimization.
3Quantity of substance
If smaller fragments are used to maintain high number density, then the fragment quantity increases, but the fragments are ineffective for defeating the rocket
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the shape parameter of the fragments from traditional small spherical or irregular pieces to elongated blade shapes with optimized dimensions. The blade projectiles have specific length-to-diameter ratios that maximize their cutting effectiveness. This parameter change in fragment geometry enables small fragments to deliver high impact energy through their blade shape, resolving the contradiction between quantity and force by optimizing the physical parameters of each fragment.
4Ease of operation
If the explosively-formed-projectile charge is aligned parallel to the fuselage axis, then the structure is simple, but the blade projectile cannot achieve optimal interception geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the explosively-formed-projectile charge dynamically deployable between stowed and deployed states. The charge can be positioned at different angles relative to the fuselage axis depending on the interception scenario. This dynamic capability allows optimizing the blade projectile emission direction for different target geometries and relative velocities, improving interception effectiveness while maintaining simple structure during non-deployed phases, thus resolving the ease of operation-device complexity contradiction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The warhead system effectively defeats short-range projectiles by generating high-velocity blade projectiles that can cut through targets with increased spatial coverage and selective aiming, addressing the limitations of conventional warheads in terms of cost and effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
an explosively-formed-projectile charge having a length and configured to generate at least one explosively formed blade projectile propagating substantially perpendicular to the length
Implementation Method 2
when the explosively-formed-projectile charge is detonated in the deployed state, the explosively formed blade projectile propagates
Data Source
AI summary
A warhead system for a projectile-intercepting munition, the warhead system includes a fuselage having an axis and one or more explosively-formed-projectile charge. The explosively-formed-projectile is with a length and configured to generate one or more explosively formed blade projectile propagating substantially perpendicular to the length, the explosively-formed-projectile charge assuming a deployed state wherein the length of the explosively-formed-projectile charge is non-parallel to the axis, the deployed state and the explosively-formed-projectile charge configured such that, when the explosively-formed-projectile charge is detonated in the deployed state, the explosively formed blade projectile propagates in a direction non-coplanar with the length of the explosively-formed-projectile charge and the axis of the fuselage.