Ordnance – Shields – Shape or composition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-20
2001-11-06
Carone, Michael J. (Department: 3641)
Ordnance
Shields
Shape or composition
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311605
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an arrangement for protection against shaped charges, primarily bomblets which approach or which position themselves on an object such as an armored target object.
The survivability of armored vehicles depends decisively upon their protective capability against threats which come from above or from the side. With regard to threats, which come from above, counted in the first instance are the so-called bomblets which are expelled from artillery grenades or warheads above the field of combat, and wherein the final path of flight is traversed in a free fall, mostly by means of being equipped with a simple aerodynamic stabilization. The arming is effected upon or subsequent to the explosion from the warhead through aerodynamic and mechanical aids. The triggering of the bomblets is mostly initiated through the rearward delay which is encountered upon striking against the surface of the target.
The actual active component of such charges consists of so-called hollow charges with a conical or trumpet-shaped insert, which can possess a uniform or variable wall thickness along its height, whereupon this is then, respectively, designated as a degressive or progressive hollow charge. In order that the hollow charges are able to unfold their full power, a high degree of manufacturing symmetry and corresponding dynamic material properties is a basic prerequisite.
From the practice it is known that already extremely small disturbances, caused through manufacturing imprecisions, inhomogeneities in the explosive, or slightly asymmetrically extending triggering cycles, or through a not completely regular through-detonation of the explosive, leads to such a significant reduction in power, that the hollow charge-jet or hollow barb which is formed from the insert will not spread or stretch, in a fully axially symmetrical manner.
In
FIG. 1
there is schematically illustrated a shaped charge in the form of a bomblet
1
at the point in time of striking against the surface
10
of an object which is to be protected. The bomblet
1
consists essentially of a housing
2
, which is filled with an explosive
3
in such a manner that this explosive
3
will surround a downwardly opening insert
4
which is constituted of a material, for example, such as copper. The explosive
3
which is through-detonated by means of a fuze
6
presses the insert together at a high rate of speed so that, from the tip region of the insert
4
, there is formed a hollow charge-jet or a jet
5
. The insert
4
is thus deformed by means of the detonation of the explosive
3
into the jet
5
which moves under a continual stretching effect towards the surface
10
and penetrates into the latter. The peak velocities of the particles which form the jet
5
lie hereby between 5 and 8 kilometers per second (km/sec), whereas the diameter of the formed jet
5
lies within the millimeter range. At a complete precision, in a homogeneous steel armor there are attained penetrating depths which lie between 4 to 8 times the largest insert diameter. The mechanical impact detonation is effected, as a rule, in that a detonating needle
7
due to its inertia, upon striking against the object moves in a passageway
8
towards the fuze
6
, and pierces the latter, as a result of which there is detonated the bomblet
1
. The fuze
6
thereby brings the explosive
3
to detonation.
The power capability of the bomblet
1
depends essentially upon the stretching or expansion of the jet
5
. This is achieved in that the originally quasi-homogeneous jet at the point in time of its formation is stretched and thereby caused to be particularized. A depth effect is then obtained from the addition of the individual powers of the individual particles forming the jet
5
, which must penetrate behind each other in an absolutely precise manner. The stretching of the jet
5
takes place continuously, whereby the distance between the particles from the tip in the direction of the bomblet
1
continually reduces. For a desired penetrating power it is necessary to provide a specific stretching path
9
, which is generally designated as a stand-off. The stand-off
9
is formed by the distance of the lower conical boundary of the insert
4
to the surface
10
.
For impact detonators which necessitate a sufficient delay for their operational activation, the stand-off
9
in comparison with the diameter of the insert
4
of the bomblet
1
is formed small due to constructional requirements (referring, for example, to FIG.
1
). For warheads with proximity fuzes, or with electrical triggering the stand-off
9
can be formed correspondingly larger (approximately 2-times the diameter of the insert).
Over a long period of time until now there has not been available any effective capability for protection against shaped charges, such as bomblets which approach or position themselves on an object.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement affording protection against shaped charges, such as primarily bomblets.
The foregoing object is inventively attained through the intermediary of an arrangement in which the surface of the armoring of the object which is to be protected has disruptive bodies associated therewith, whose height, shape and arrangement are dimensioned such that at least one such body, for the disruption of the jet formation of the shaped charge, can penetrate into an internal region of a hollow charge insert or into the so-called stand-off region of the shaped charge.
The principle of the arrangement pursuant to the invention is predicated on that the formation of a symmetrical jet of a bomblet can be prevented, and thereby the power thereof is able to be quite significantly reduced. This is preferably implemented through the penetration of at least one disruptive body into the internal region of the hollow charge insert and/or into the region of the insert opening.
Through the introduction of the disruptive body into the internal region or at least into the lower central region of the shaped charge, the jet is disrupted already at the beginning of the stretching thereof and prior to the jet being fully formed in a particular advantageous manner, in that the final ballistic power capacity of the hollow charge is reduced up to a fraction of its maximum power capability. Comparable power reductions can be achieved with no other of the measures known from the standpoint of the target in the practice, and also not with the most modern dynamic methods.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3324768 (1967-06-01), Eichelberger
patent: 3684631 (1972-08-01), Dunbar
patent: 3826172 (1974-07-01), Dawson
patent: 4665794 (1987-05-01), Gerber et al.
patent: 4881448 (1989-11-01), Medin et al.
patent: 5616885 (1997-04-01), Walters et al.
patent: 5739458 (1998-04-01), Girard
patent: 2771490 (1989-08-01), None
Kellner Gerd
Nentwig Christian
Carone Michael J.
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
Thomson Michelle
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