Programmable barrel weapon

Details Programmable barrel weapon Programmable barrel weapon

1999-01-13

2000-10-31

Jordan, Charles T.

Ordnance

Fuse setters

Combined with projecting, launching or releasing devices

102265, 102270, F42C 1700

Patent

active

061385476

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shell-firing barrel weapon system provided with a rifled barrel preferably made of steel or other electrically conductive material and designed to fire, as single-shot, semiautomatic or fully automatic fire, explosive-filled shells provided with programmable electronic fuses.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For the weapon system in question, it is generally the case that it will include a programming member of a known type which, on command, generates electric programming signals which are to be passed onto the shells. Since the programming member, and the type of programming signals which it generates are of a type known, these features will not be described more closely.
The invention instead relates to how the weapon system is to be designed so that it will be possible to supply the electric programming signals to the electronic fuse function of the shells while the shells are located in the cartridge chamber of the weapon inside the barrel where they are surrounded by electrically conductive and, in the great majority of cases, magnetic material. For effectiveness, it is desirable to program fuses as late as possible which means that this should be done immediately before, or in conjunction with firing.
Programming the fuse of the shells inside the cartridge chamber is therefore, in theory, the best place if possibility of doing this after the shell has left the barrel and is on its way towards the target is discounted. EP-A-0300255 and EP-A-0467055 describe how programming can be carried out with the aid of electromagnetic coils arranged immediately outside the mouth of the barrel. For various reasons, these solutions have proved to be more difficult to implement in practice than was originally theoretically assumed. Then, as far as programming further away from the firing point is concerned, along the actual missile trajectory, this involves such great technical complications that, although they are by no means insurmountable, they would probably only be justified in terms of effectiveness in larger calibers such as 10.5 cm and above.
In addition to the alternatives indicated above of programming the shells when they are on the way towards the target, or in the cartridge chamber of the weapon, the current most common method of programming the shells is programming before the shell is supplied to the weapon and also the procedure which is used in certain automatic pieces in which the shell is programmed at the same time as it is transferred from the magazine of the weapon to the cartridge chamber of the weapon.
None of these methods is suitable in weapons which may stand with a shell in the cartridge chamber for long periods without firing. The only alternative remaining then is actually to program the fuse of the shell in the cartridge chamber of the weapon or immediately outside thereof. In theory, both these procedures also represent good opportunities for programming the detonation range for the shells of the relative shots in a volley.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a solution to the problems indicated above. The invention therefore relates to a shell-firing barrel weapon system for single-shot, semi-automatic or fully automatic firing provided with a rifled barrel preferably made of steel. The weapon system in question comprises, in addition to usual components such as a barrel, breech block and possibly an ammunition-feeding system, magazine, sights etc., a programming system designed according to the prior art intended to program, by means of electric pulses, the electronic time fuse which is to form part of the explosive-filled shells which belong to the weapon system. As has already been indicated, the programming system is of a known type per se. The purpose of the programming is to provide detonation at the desired range. The programming therefore relates to range/time detonation.
According to the invention, the barrel of the weapon is now to be equipped, for transmitting the programming pulse concerned

REFERENCES:
patent: 1897863 (1933-02-01), Ruhlemann
patent: 4005631 (1977-02-01), Kaiser et al.
patent: 4649796 (1987-03-01), Schmidt
patent: 4664013 (1987-05-01), Wegner et al.
patent: 4711152 (1987-12-01), Fortunko
patent: 4979424 (1990-12-01), Becker et al.
patent: 5117732 (1992-06-01), Munzel et al.

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