An Endo-Atmospheric Hypervelocity Intercept System
Abstract
This study examines the feasibility and practicality of using clouds of hypervelocity pellets to intercept and disable a generic air target. The Directed Energy Projectile Warhead which accelerates these pellets, uses an unconventional design to attain speeds an order of magnitude above those of conventional high explosive warheads. The DEPW is fitted to a conventional intercept missile to put the target in effective range of the warhead, which then detonates, and launches the pellets very much like a hypervelocity shotgun. An extensive three-dimensional computer simulation was developed using ACSL(Advanced Computer Simulation Language) and FORTRAN. The program models the terminal homing phase of a missile intercept to evaluate the effectiveness of different guidance laws used to align the warhead with the projected intercept point. After a favorable geometry has been achieved, the warhead is detonated and the lethality of impact between the target and hypervelocity pellet cloud is evaluated. Overall effectiveness of this system is shown to depend on the pointing accuracy of the warhead and the firing range. No insurmountable obstacles are foreseen in developing a suitable guidance and aiming algorithm. A valuable tool to evaluate design options has also been developed. Keywords: Antimissile missiles; Hypervelocity impact; Intercept trajectories; Interceptors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 10, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA200403
Entities
People
- Shawn L. Penrod
Organizations
- United States Naval Academy