Raytheon Company

Mark E Elkanick

Delmar L Barker

Chris Eugene Geswender

Craig O Shott

Doron Strassman

James A Bacon

An interceptor is provided with an integrated propulsion and attitude control system (ACS) in which propellant burn forms a common pressure vessel for high-pressure gas. An aft port in the rocket motor directs gas through one or more main nozzles that expel high-velocity gas in a generally axial direction to propel the interceptor. A forward port directs gas through one or more attitude control nozzles that expel high-velocity gas in a generally radial direction to control the attitude of the interceptor. The main nozzle(s) and stabilization fins are fixed, there is no servo control to the main nozzles or fins to affect attitude control. The use of a common pressure vessel enables an integrated propulsion and ACS that can be compact, lightweight and inexpensive.

Integrated propulsion and attitude control system from a common pressure vessel for an interceptor

Some embodiments pertain to a projectile that includes a casing and a plurality of fins which are secured to the casing. Each of the fins is movable between a stowed position and a deployed position. The fins are typically in the stowed position during storage and launch, and move to the deployed position as soon as possible after launch. Each fin includes a first foil that has a first set of openings and a second foil that includes a second set of openings. The first sets of openings in the first foils are aligned with the second sets of openings in the second foils when each of the fins is in the stowed position. The first sets of openings in the first foils are not aligned with the second sets of openings in the second foils when each of the fins is in the deployed position.

Projectile that includes as needed pressure-relieving wrap-around tail fins

A system and method to inject nanostructures into the fuel/oxidizer mixture, typically lean mixtures, to increase efficiency of internal combustion and/or decrease pollution. An electromagnetic pulse (suitably 1 to 100 GHz) couples energy to the nanostructures to produce a volumetric combustion of the fuel oxidizer mixture. The fuel/oxidizer mixture is substantially transparent to the band of the electromagnetic pulse. The nanostructures couple to the electromagnetic radiation, absorb the energy and heat rapidly producing many local ignitions that in turn produce volume combustion. The nanostructures may be filled or partially filled with energetic material.

Method and apparatus for improved internal combustion of fuel/oxidizer mixtures by nanostructure injection and electromagnetic pulse ignition

A system (10') for generating a missile guidance gain factor adapted for use with guided missiles. The inventive system includes a guidance control system (52) for obtaining current guidance parameters(55, 57) including ideal navigation gain, closing rate, line of sight rate, missile maneuverability, and missile velocity parameters. Software (56) running on a guidance control processor (54) computes a current guidance gain factor reflective of the current maneuverability of the missile from the guidance parameters (55, 57). In the illustrative embodiment, the system 10' further includes a nonlinear notch circuit (56) that generates an acceleration command (59) from the guidance parameters (55, 57) that varies in response to varying missile maneuverability parameters (57). The guidance control system (10') includes a conventional guidance law computation circuit (54, 55) and electromagnetic sensing equipment (52). An autopilot circuit (58) included in the system (10') provides the missile maneuverability parameters (57). In a specific embodiment, the nonlinear notch circuit (56) is implemented via software running on a guidance processor (54) which performs the following computation for generating the acceleration command (59): A.sub.new =G.sub.nl .times.A, where A.sub.new is the acceleration command (59), A is a pre-existing acceleration command (53), and G.sub.nl is the missile guidance gain factor of the present invention. The guidance gain factor is a function of the ratio of the measured line of sight rate with respect to the ideal line of sight rate maximum, and is tailored to existing missile characteristics and performance requirements.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Mark E Elkanick