US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Mohan J Palathingal

Leon Manole

Anthony J Sebasto

Marco Duca

Ernest L Logsdon, Jr

Stewart Gilman

John C Grau

Anthony Vella

Daniel Vo

Sung K Chung

Ahmed Hassan

Gregory M Kolasa

Andrew Morley

Robert Marchak

Kip Hess

A kinetic energy penetrator for use in small caliber ammunition, which penetrator can utilize composite material small sabots. A large shear area in the sabot having a small number of decreasingly sized buttress grooves, mate to the penetrator shaft making use of composite material sabots feasible. Lightening of the penetrator through substitution of composite material sabots results in greater velocity with higher kinetic energy on lethal impact. The fewer grooves aerodynamically lessen drag and likewise tend to boost velocity plus lethal impact.

Long rod penetrator concept for small caliber munitions

A kinetic energy penetrator with a longitudinal axis may include a forward segment having a lateral surface, a rear surface, and at least one air bleed channel extending from the lateral surface to the rear surface. A second segment may be disposed aft of and torsionally engaged with the forward segment. The second segment may include a front surface adjacent the rear surface of the forward segment. The forward and second segments may each be asymmetric about the longitudinal axis of the penetrator. When the penetrator is in flight, bleed air through the bleed channels may impinge on the front surface of the second segment. The second segment may separate from the front segment. Kinetic energies of each of the forward and second segments may be less than about 75 joules upon impact with a ground surface.

Low collateral damage air defense projectile

A Kinetic Energy penetrator round is shown effective in neutralizing incoming air borne threat munitions such as rockets, artillery, or mortars for instance, without posing a threat in urban environments to harm bystanders on the ground. There are also no hazards or expense with this round of cleaning up unexploded ordnance, which might have occurred with other types of rounds due to unreliability of self destruct mechanisms. Shown herein is a kinetic energy penetrator for air defense that merely self destructs beyond its operational range into fragments that are not lethal to personnel on ground; no pyrotechnic or energetic materials means are used to activate this self destruct process. A full bore projectile structure is shown that is composed of plural axi-symmetric circular disks stacked on each other and tied by a shape memory metal wire of Nitinol. While operational as a joined group, the disks are a formidable round to kill an incoming air target. After the self destruct phase however, each disk is separated from adjacent disks on either side by a spring mechanism that enables separation after the process is initiated in flight when the Nitinol wire deforms due to heating from air drag. Each disk then proceeds alone with low enough terminal kinetic energy on the ground to be less than lethal.

Frangible kinetic energy projectile for air defense

A Hybrid Projectile is provided for delivering an explosive payload to a target wherein the Hybrid Projectile may be steered in flight using relatively inexpensive means. The Hybrid Projectile is exteriorly configured in the same physical exterior configuration of conventional ammunition of various standard types so it can be launched in conventional manner from the same weapon systems. However, internal features allow the Hybrid Projectile to be transformed in flight from a command signal to deploy wings and fins, and in some projectiles to telescope open to deploy such wings and fins. An inexpensive televisual means is activated in the fore region of the round which through RF uplink command can be used to select a path, while motors on the wings can then be used to more precisely glide the projectile to a target, or otherwise to abort the target run.

Gun launched hybrid projectile

An energetic sabot allows part of the sabot to burn away at a controlled rate, adding propellant energy to the gun while at the same time completely support the projectile rod. The energetic sabot is thicker or larger at shot start to support the projectile without breaking. As the energetic sabot travels up the gun tube, the energetic sabot then thins out or otherwise decreases in mass as the force on the energetic sabot decreases. The weight of the projectile consequently decreases as it travels up the gun tube, allowing the gun gases to push a lighter projectile, giving the projectile a higher velocity. Due to its continually decreasing weight in the gun tube, the projectile experiences greater acceleration and exits the gun with a higher muzzle velocity. A secondary effect comes from increased pressure in the gun tube from the gases relinquished in the burning of the sabot, further increasing the velocity of the projectile. This higher velocity in turn leads to greater projectile velocity at target impact, and thus a greater penetration depth. The energetic sabot is 'doped' with energetic materials by sprinkling either explosive, propulsive, or pyrotechnic agents between layers of the composite material in the energetic sabot. These agents ignite upon propulsion; their composition is determined from their burn rates. The burn rate may be designed proportional to the decrease in chamber pressure; the less pressure in the tube, the more material that can be relinquished.

Sabot for reducing the parasitic weight of a kinetic energy projectile

A system for guiding projectiles to a target. More particularly, a system for the guidance of projectiles toward a target using a photo detector array ( ) and an arrangement of single use thrusters ( ). The system is capable of guiding projectile to targets after firing from extended distances.

Growing community of inventors

Oradell, NJ, United States of America

Mohan J Palathingal