More safe insensitive munition for producing a controlled fragmentation pattern

Abstract

A warhead includes a body, a patterned liner made of plastic, and an explosive charge disposed within the liner. The liner pattern is formed of gaps and liner elements. The explosive charge includes a first set of sections that are disposed adjacent to the liner gaps and a second set of sections that are disposed adjacent to the liner elements. Upon detonation of the explosive charge and because of the temporal delay in transmitting the detonation energy between these two sets of sections, the warhead body is caused to shear and break into fragments with controlled size. The use of plastic as the liner material also provides a welcome safety feature for this warhead. In the event of unwanted heat ignition, the plastic (which is also low melt temperature material), would melt to seal the explosive and would also flow. Because of the plastic, neither sudden pressure nor heat/ignition inside the round, would therefore be as catastrophic.