Countermeasure Dispenser Envelope With Missile-Style Suspension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft countermeasure systems face limitations in capacity, adaptability, and integration without altering the aircraft design, necessitating increased countermeasure capacity, easier mission adaptation, and enhanced protection against threats.
Innovation Solution
The countermeasure arrangement utilizes suspension means and electrical terminals designed to match missile systems, allowing for easy integration and control of countermeasure dispensers without modifying the aircraft, incorporating pivotable and dual dispensing units for increased flexibility and payload.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the aircraft is equipped with more countermeasure dispensers, then the countermeasure capacity increases, but the aircraft design and structure must be modified
Solution Approach 1:
The envelope is designed with suspension means that can mate with both missile suspension rails and hard points, allowing the same structure to serve multiple functions. The envelope can be used as a missile carrier or as a countermeasure dispenser without requiring different mounting structures, thereby increasing countermeasure capacity without modifying aircraft design.
Solution Approach 2:
The envelope is made pivotable about its longitudinal axis, allowing dynamic adjustment of the dispensing direction. This enables the countermeasures to be dispersed in different directions (downward, backward, or sideways) depending on the threat direction, increasing the effectiveness of the limited countermeasure capacity without requiring additional dispensers.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the aircraft is adapted for different missions by changing equipment, then the mission versatility improves, but the adaptation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The envelope with standardized suspension means can be rapidly swapped between different hard points on the aircraft, allowing quick reconfiguration for different missions. The same envelope structure can carry missiles or dispense countermeasures, enabling fast mission adaptation without complex modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The countermeasure dispenser is divided into separate modular components (envelope, suspension means, electrical terminals, pivot mechanism) that can be independently assembled and replaced. This modular design allows rapid adaptation by simply replacing the envelope module without affecting other aircraft systems.
3Reliability
If countermeasure dispensers are integrated into the aircraft structure, then the protection effectiveness improves, but the aircraft design must be changed
Solution Approach 1:
The envelope acts as an intermediary carrier that interfaces between the aircraft's existing hard points and the countermeasure dispenser system. Rather than integrating the dispenser directly into the aircraft structure, the envelope provides a standardized interface layer, allowing effective countermeasure deployment without modifying the aircraft design.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivotable envelope provides dynamic positioning capability, allowing the countermeasures to be dispersed in the optimal direction for each specific threat scenario. This enhances protection effectiveness by adapting the dispensing direction to the incoming missile or sensor threat, without requiring multiple fixed dispensers integrated into the aircraft.
4Device complexity
If the countermeasure dispenser uses fixed dispensing direction, then the structure is simpler, but the effectiveness against different threat directions is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The envelope is equipped with a pivot mechanism that allows rotation about the longitudinal axis, enabling dynamic adjustment of the dispensing direction. The envelope can be oriented to dispense countermeasures downward, backward, or sideways depending on the threat direction, significantly enhancing countermeasure effectiveness without adding complex multi-directional dispenser structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The envelope can be pre-positioned in the optimal orientation before countermeasure deployment. The pivot mechanism allows the envelope to be adjusted to the correct angle in advance, ensuring that countermeasures are dispersed in the most effective direction when needed, rather than relying on complex real-time multi-directional dispensing.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a countermeasure arrangement comprising a countermeasure dispenser (2), an envelope (8) at least partly enclosing the countermeasure dispenser (2), first control means (20) for controlling the countermeasure dispenser (2), and suspension means (22) arranged on the envelope (8) for suspending the envelope (8) on an aircraft (24). The suspension means (22) has a form and a design that substantially correspond to the form and design of a suspension rail (26) of a missile (30), so that the suspension means (22) mates to an hard point (28) on the aircraft (24), which is adapted to the missile (30).