US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Stephen A Wilkerson

Bruce P Burns

Robert P Kaste

Peter Plostins

A double ramped, saboted, kinetic energy assembly automatically aligns a jectile in a gun tube. The assembly has an acceleration activated device consisting of a split centering ring causing alignment during the early phase of the shot motion of the projectile. The assembly also includes a series of small protrusions or a continuous expandable ring which forces and maintains the projectile into a straight aligned position during its traversal of the gun tube. The assembly may have either a smooth bore or a rifled bore gun tube. The disclosure also include a method related to the assembly.

Stabilization band/ring assembly for aligning a projectile in a gun tube

An improved segmented doubled ramp sabot for launching a sub-caliber projile, comprising a plurality of longitudinal ribs disposed on the forward and aft ramp sections of the sabot, and a plurality of longitudinal ribs disposed between an obturating band seat and a conical borerider. The combined cross sectional area of the double ramp segments, together with the combined cross sectional area of the ribs, are such that the sum of these areas is approximately equal to the cross sectional area of a double ramp sabot representative of prior art. As a result, axial stiffness is unaffected, and uniform shear traction forces between the sabot and projectile are maintained. In addition, the transverse bending stiffness of the sabot is improved, thereby reducing in-bore vibration and shot dispersion while allowing maximum energy transfer to the projectile. Use of a stiffer material for the ribs further improves transverse bending stiffness and performance.

Growing community of inventors

Sykesville, MD, United States of America

Stephen A Wilkerson