USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Fred L Menz

Michael R Osburn

Louis J Montesi

Wallace E Silver

Charles W Flaterman

Pearsie S Wiggins

Jerry O Jones

Howard S Leopold, Deceased

A system for aiming a selectively aimable warhead (SAW) at a target by exsively deforming the warhead into a shape desirable for directionality. Twenty-four explosive forming charges are located around the circumference of the warhead and run the entire length of the warhead. The proximity fuze selects one sector out of 24 as the direction aim. Having selected a sector in the azimuth, the forming charge in that sector plus the adjacent two forming charges are initiated simultaneously. After a time delay interval sufficient to allow the warhead to deform (about 1/2 millisecond to 1 millisecond), warhead boosters located furthest from the target (or 180 degrees from the forming charges) and on each end of the warhead, are initiated simultaneously. The warhead is detonated generating a high velocity fragment beam towards the target.

Selectively aimable warhead initiation system

Dual-mode capability is provided in a warhead initiation system having an itiation transfer assembly and two, end booster plates. The initiation transfer assembly comprises five, separate lines of mild detonating cord (MDC) swaged together at one end in an acceptor manifold. Two MDCs of equal length terminate at each of the booster plates and the fifth, shorter MDC is directed to the center of the aft booster plate via an initiation mode selector which controls detonation propagation along this cord. The safety and arming mechanism of the warhead ignites the acceptor manifold, causing simultaneous initiation of the five MDCs. In the normal mode, a launch signal causes the initiation mode selector to extend a control barrier across the path of the shorter, fifth MDC to prevent faster propagation of detonation to the aft booster plate, thus resulting in dual-ended initiation of the warhead when both end plates are simultaneously ignited by the equal-length MDCs. For single-ended initiation, the mode selector is not actuated, thus permitting the aft booster plate to initiate sooner than the forward plate via the shorter, fifth MDC.

Dual-mode warhead initiation system

The plastic bonded explosive in obsolete or otherwise rejected warheads is xplosively shocked out of the warheads so that materials from which the explosive is made can be recycled. The process involves placing detonating cord in a cavity left by the removal of the warhead's safe and arm mechanism and/or communications hole, pouring water into the cavity around the detonating cord and detonating the detonating cord.

Method for reclaiming and recycling plastic bonded energetic material

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China Lake, CA, United States of America

Fred L Menz