Interceptor Projectile Deployable Net Capture Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for defending against incoming projectiles, such as rocket propelled grenades, often result in fragmentation that can cause collateral damage and injury due to the destruction of the projectile, and there is a need for a solution that can capture and disable such projectiles without producing harmful fragments.
Innovation Solution
A deployable net and weights attached to a tubular body, propelled by separate explosive charges, which deploy radially and wrap around incoming projectiles to ensnare and disable them, maintaining mechanical linkage with the interceptor projectile to prevent fragmentation and allow for potential capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fragmentation warhead interceptor is used to destroy an incoming projectile, then the incoming projectile is defeated, but fragments are produced that may injure personnel or cause collateral damage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of destroying the incoming projectile with a fragmentation warhead, the invention inverts the approach by using a net to capture and contain the projectile intact. The net wraps around the incoming projectile and secures it to the interceptor body, preventing fragmentation while still defeating the threat.
Solution Approach 2:
The net acts as an intermediary between the interceptor and the incoming projectile. Rather than direct contact between explosive warheads, the net mediates the interaction by capturing the projectile and securing it through mechanical entanglement, thus avoiding harmful fragmentation.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a net is deployed to capture an incoming projectile, then fragmentation is avoided and capture is possible, but the deployment mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Weights are attached to the net at acute angles relative to the longitudinal axis of the interceptor projectile. When the propellant charge fires, these weights are propelled outward, using their mass and trajectory to pull the net open and deploy it radially around the incoming projectile, simplifying the deployment mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The net transitions from a compressed, stowed configuration inside the tubular body to an expanded, deployed configuration through dynamic propulsion. The propellant charge creates a rapid expansion motion that propels the net and weights outward, transforming the net's state from static to dynamic deployment.
3Speed
If weights are propelled radially to deploy the net quickly, then deployment speed is improved, but the risk of stray parts causing harm increases
Solution Approach 1:
The weights, net, and interceptor body are merged into a single integrated system. After deployment, the net wraps around and secures the incoming projectile to the interceptor body, ensuring that all components remain connected as one unit. This prevents stray parts from causing harm while maintaining rapid deployment capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The weights, which could potentially become harmful stray parts, are converted into a beneficial securing mechanism. After deploying the net, the weights help wrap the net around the incoming projectile and remain attached to the interceptor body, transforming potential harm into a feature that ensures complete containment and prevents fragmentation.
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 solution effectively disables incoming projectiles by ensnaring them without causing fragmentation, reducing collateral damage and allowing for the possibility of capturing enemy projectiles, while ensuring all components remain connected to prevent stray parts from causing further harm.
Implementation Method 1
a propellant operatively coupled to the net and the weights and the net, for deploying the weights and the net
Implementation Method 2
The metal weights are fired off from the projectile with a radial component of velocity. The weights aid in deploying the net quickly to its maximum area, and rotate around the center of the net during flight
Implementation Method 3
The net ensnares and disables the incoming projectile, causing the incoming projectile to miss its intended target
Data Source
AI summary
An interceptor projectile includes a deployable net that deploys during flight and wraps around an incoming projectile, such as a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). The net is initially in a tubular body of the interceptor projectile. Weights are attached to ends of the net with metal cables. A propellant is used to deploy the net from the tubular body and to deploy the weights at acute angles to the longitudinal axis of the interceptor projectile. The weights move radially out from the interceptor projectile, expanding the net outward, and wrapping the net around an incoming projectile. The engagement of the net with the incoming projectile disables the incoming projectile, sending the incoming projectile off course.