The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 01, 2015
Filed:
Jan. 17, 2013
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Robert W Morgan, Tucson, AZ (US);
James P Normoyle, Tucson, AZ (US);
Kurt J Wuest, Tucson, AZ (US);
David Drake, Tucson, AZ (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
An air vehicle, such as a missile, for example an interceptor, includes control surfaces and a vectored thrust system, both used for steering the missile. A controller is operatively coupled to both steering mechanisms, and is configured to operate in a low dynamic pressure mode, which uses the vectored thrust system for at least part of the steering, only when the dynamic pressure is low, such as when the missile is at high altitude. At higher dynamic pressure, such as at lower altitude, the controller is configured to operate in a high dynamic pressure mode that uses only the control surfaces for steering. This allows the interceptor to operate at higher altitudes than interceptors that use only control surfaces for steering during flight. During flight for a high altitude interception the missile shifts from the high dynamic pressure mode to the low dynamic pressure mode.