GB2204388A

GB2204388A - Container for dispersing ammunition

Info

Publication number: GB2204388A
Application number: GB08416606A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Horst Hutter; Dieter Weidenhagen
Original assignee: Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm AG
Current assignee: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
Priority date: 1984-05-10
Filing date: 1984-06-29
Publication date: 1988-11-09
Also published as: GB8416606D0; GB2204388B

Abstract

A container (1), for dispersion ammunition for carriage on an aircraft, has a number of modules (2) coupled together, with ejection tubes (10) for ammunition extending the width of the module. The tubes are connected at their closed ends to an ejection gas generator and form groups so that on firing of the generator ammunition is ejected from a group of tubes in opposed directions so that there is no overall force reaction in a group. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE Container for Dispersion Ammunition This invention relates to a container for dispersion ammunition.

Containers for dispersion ammunition have a number of ejection tubes which contain the ammunition in the form of mines or hollow charge projectiles and which are ejected from the tubes by means of gas generators.

The ammunition thus ejected covers an area in as uniform a manner as possible.

The ammunition containers are suspended from carrier aircraft and they either remain on the carrier aircraft on ejection of the ammunition or else the container is dropped from the aircraft prior to ejection, after which the ammunition is ejected from the container as soon as the latter has fallen away from the aircraft a sufficient distance. In both instances the ammunition has to be ejected from the container without reaction so that the dispersion area can be covered in a calculable manner.

To enable the ammunition to be ejected from the container without reaction in this manner, the ejection tubes are usually open at both ends with a gas generator mounted in the middle of the tubes and acting on two opposed surfaces which expel the ammunition from the two ends of the ejection tube. In this process the forces occurring in the ejection in opposite directions cancel out.

A container of this kind is expensive to construct as each ejection tube is, in effect, subdivided into two parts each requiring a gas generator. This method of construction also means that the known types of dispersion ammunition container have to be very wide and they cannot thus be suspended from conventional aircraft unless special fittings or locks are provided for the purpose.

An object of this invention is to simplify the construction of a dispersion ammunition container.

According to this invention there is provided a container for dispersion ammunition and for the ejection of same, the ammunition being stored in ejection tubes in the container and ejectable by gas generators without reaction, wherein the dispersion ammunition container has a number of groups of ejection tubes, each group of tubes having a gas generator unit which is positioned outside the tubes and which is connected with the tubes of a group by conduits through which ammunition contained in the tubes of a group is ejectable without reaction.

According to this invention, therefore, the ejection tubes are combined in groups in a dispersion ammunition container with a gas generator being shared by all the tubes in a group and the ammunition contained in all the ejection tubes being ejectable by the said generator.

This already greatly reduces the number of gas generators required. Each individual group of ejection tubes is preferably combined to form an independent module, i.e.

a container module. The whole of the ammunition of the container module is ejected in a reaction-free manner.

The entire dispersion ammunition container is made up of a multiplicity of such container modules.

The gas generator situated centrally in the module is preferably surrounded by the ejection tubes of a container module in an annular configuration. This allows a very compact design to be adopted for the container modules. The gas generator is located centrally in the container module in a cylindrical pipe constructed as a twin generator with two gas chambers at the outer ends of the said pipe. The gas generator occupies the entire width of the container module. The gas generator is surrounded annularly by four ejection tubes which likewise extend over the entire width of the module and are closed at one end.A propulsion surface is provided at their closed end for the ejection of the ammunition and the propulsion surface is subject to the action of the generator gases which pass through tapping lines from the gas chamber to the closed end of the ejection tubes behind the propulsion surface. Each two ejection tubes are connected with one gas chamber of the generator.

This design enables the width of the container to be reduced to about half that of the known type of dispersion ammunition container. This, however, also enables dispersion ammunition containers to be provided for suspension from standard suspension fittings of an aircraft. Dispersion ammunition containers constructed on these lines are thus to a large extent universally usable.

The ejection tubes of a container module can be parallel or positioned at an angle with respect to one another, in which case care must be taken to ensure that the ammunition is nevertheless ejected without reaction.

This relative position of the individual ejection tubes makes it possible inter alia for the width of the dispersion area to be controlled and for the area to be covered with ammunition evenly.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described by way of examples only in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing two examples.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a side view'of a container for dispersion ammunition partly in section and constructed from two modules, Figure 2 shows a view of a container module, Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section on III III through the container of Figure 2 with four ejection tubes and a common gas generator, and Figures 4A,B,C show a schematic view and two schematic longitudinal sections respectively on IVB-IVB and IVC-IVC of a container module of a second embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a dispersion ammunition container 1 comprising a multiplicity of modules or container modules 2. In the central zone of the container is a T-piece 3 of which the upper member serves as a suspension fitting 4 from which the container is suspended from aircraft (not shown). The fitting 4 is shown in Figure 1 without any further details such as suspension hooks. On both sides of that member 5 of the T-piece 3 which serves as a securing element are block-like modules 2 arranged in two rows one above the other and containing five modules each. The width of the container corresponds to that of the container modules and to that of the member 5 of the central T-piece.

At the front end of the container is an aerodynamically shaped nose 7, an aerodynamically shaped tail part 8 being provided at the other end. The rear part may be additionally provided with stabilizing fins or with a drive device, so that the container when jettisoned from the aircraft is able to follow a defined trajectory in an aerodynamically stable manner. Figure 1 only shows schematically stabilizing fins 9.

The container modules 2 in this case have square side surfaces and are in each case provided with four parallel ejection tubes 10 which extend over the entire width of the container 1 and of which each pair is opened towards a different side of the container. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the ejection tubes 101 and 102 open twoards the side of the observer, their longitudinal axes being situated in the diagonal plane of a module.

The ejection tubes open towards the other side of the container and close on the side of the observer and are shown in broken lines in Figure 2 and are marked 103 and 104.

The container modules 2 are in each case provided on their side surfaces with securing pins 12 which engage bores 13 of appropriate shape provided in adjacent modules.

One side surface is additionally provided with an electric plug 14 which engages a corresponding socket 15 of an adjacent module. The modules are connected together in the manner shown in Figure 1 and then tightened in relation to one another by the aid of a clamp band 16, only shown schematically, and which is suspended on the central T-piece. The clamp band also embraces the point 7 and the rear part 8 of the dispersion ammunition container 2, thus the latter, after the modules have been connected together and tightened up with the clamp band, takes the form of a rigid and stable unit.

Needless to say, other methods of assembling the dispersion ammunition container 2 are conceivable.

It can be provided, for example, with a supporting framework in which the individual modules are then mounted or inserted.

The ejection tubes 10 of a container module 2 are packed symmetrically around a cylindrical gas generator 17 which is situated centrally in the module and extends over the entire width of the module (Figure 3). The gas generator is constructed as a twin generator with central ignition. In a cylindrical pipe 18 cylindrical rings 19 of pressed solid propellant are arranged to the left and right of the central part of the gas generator thus leaving a central opening 20 as a gas conduit through the entire gas generator. At the two outer ends of the pipe 18 of the gas generator, gas chambers 21 are provided from each of which two tapping lines branch off into adjacent ejection tubes 10.From the gas chamber 21 on the left in Figure 3 the tapping lines 22 lead into the ejection tubes 101 and 102, while the tapping lines from the gas chamber on the right in the drawings lead into the ejection tubes 103 and 104. The gas generator can be electrically ignited centrally by an ignition pellet 23 which is supplied by power supply lines and the aforementioned plugs and soccets 14 and 15 with the necessary ignition energy.

At each of the closed ends of the respective ejection tubes a propulsion surface 25 is provided sealed off in a gas tight manner against the inner wall of the tube by means of a sealing device 26. The propulsion surface 25 is approximately disc-shaped with the convex side facing towards the closed rear wall of the ejection tube.

The tapping lines 22 thus lead into a space between the rear terminal wall of the ejection tube and the rear face of the propulsion surface 25. At the open end, the ejection tubes are closed with a likewise ejectable cover 27. The free space in the ejection tubes between the propulsion surface 25 and the cover 27 is completely filled with dispersion ammunition.

After the dispersion ammunition container 1 has been dropped from the aircraft and moves away a certain distance the ignition pellets 23 of the gas generators of all the modules are ignited from an energy source (not shown) through the plugs 14, sockets 15 and power supply lines 24. The rings of solid propellant rapidly burn and the gas thus generated flows through the central gas conduit 20, gas chambers 21 and tapping lines 22 into the intermediate space between the closed end of the ejection tubes and the rear face of the propulsion surface. The propulsion surfaces 25 of the individual ejection tubes are thus moved towards the open end of the said ejection tubes and as a result of this the cover 27 and then the ammunition 28 is ejected. The propulsion surfaces 25 are usually stopped by interception in the ejection tube at the open end.The measures for doing this are not shown here.

Since the ejection energy is the same for all the ejection tubes and the ammunition is ejected in the same quantity in opposite directions from each two ejection tubes the evacuation of each module and also of the container as a whole takes place without any force moment. For this reason it is possible, for example, instead of suddenly ejecting the entire dispersion ammunition of the container, to cause the contents of individual modules or groups of modules to be ejected in succession, thus ensuring a precisely defined dispersion area on the ground.

Figures 4A, 4B and 4C show schematically another embodiment of a container module 2'. This container module also has four ejection tubes 10! arranged around a centrally situated gas generator 17'. The gas generator is of the same type of construction as that shown in Figure 3. In contrast to the module shown in Figure 3 the ejection tubes 10' are situated at an angle of in relation to the transverse axis 31 of the module 2', the ejection tubes 101' and 104' occupying a positive angle in relation to the transverse axis 31 while the ejection tubes 103' and 102' occupy a negative angle in relation to the transverse axis 31. The dispersion ammunition (not shown) is ejected from the four ejection tubes again free of force moments but in four different directions which are determined by the angle at which they are situated with respect to the transverse axis.

The directions of ejection are shown by four arrows Pl - P4 with the respective angles in Figures 4B and 4C. With a dispersion ammunition ejection from each module operated in this manner and thus from the container as a whole a dispersion area can be covered with ammunition in a particularly uniform manner. Furthermore, by the selection of the appropriate angles, it is also possible to nfluence the actual width of the dispersion area.

A container according to the invention-can be constructed very simply by using modules as each module consitutes a self-contained unit with a number of tubes from which the dispersion ammunition can be ejected without force moment. For all the tubes of the module only one single gas generator is provided thus simplifying the design of the container and at the same time reducing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the container is constructed very compactly, particularly as a result of the centrally positioned gas generator of each module. In addition the container can be made very narrow, as the width is only determined by the length of one single tube ejecting the ammunition in one direction and not, as hitherto, by the width of two ejection tubes. Such narrow dispersion ammunition containers can be used on a number of aircraft from which the usual wide containers could not be suspended.

Claims

1. A container for dispersion ammunition and for the ejection of same, the ammunition being stored in ejection tubes in the container and ejectable by gas generators without reaction, wherein the dispersion ammunition container has a number of groups of ejection tubes, each group of tubes having a gas generator unit which is positioned outside the tubes and which is connected with the tubes of a group by conduits through which ammunition contained in the tubes of a group is ejectable without reaction.

2. A container in accordance with Claim 1, wherein each group of tubes is combined with a relevant gas generator unit to form a module, the modules making up the complete dispersion ammunition container.

3. A container in accordance with Claim 1 or 2, wherein the ejection tubes of a container module extend the entire width of the module and surround the gas generator in an annular manner.

4. A container in accordance with Claim 3, wherein the ejection tubes are arranged in pairs having opposite directions of ejection.

5. A container in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ejection tubes extend over the full width of the module and are closed at one end, a propulsion surface being mounted at the closed ends for the purpose of ejecting ammunition from the open ends of the tubes, the surface being designed to be subjected to the gases of the gas generator which feed the ejection tube via the conduits.

6. A container in accordance with Claim 5, wherein a container module has four ejection tubes arranged around the central gas generator in an annular manner.

7. A container in accordance with Claim 5 or 6, wherein the gas generator comprises a twin generator positioned in a cylindrical tube and ignitable in the middle thereof, two gas chambers being provided at the two ends of the pipe with an equal number of tappings leading into corresponding ejection tubes from each gas chamber, the tubes having approximately the same direction of ejection.

8. A container in accordance with any preceding claim wherein each container module has four ejection tubes arranged relatively to one another at an angle which such that the ammunition contained in the tubes of a container module is eject. > d without reaction

9. A container for dispersion ammunition constructed and arranged to function as described herein with reference to the drawings.

8. A container in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein each container module has four parallel ejection tubes.

9. A container in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein each container module has four ejection tubes which occupy, in relation to one another, an angle which is such that the ammunition 2 contained in the tubes of a container module is ejected without reaction.

10. A container for dispersion ammunition constructed and arranged to function as described herein with reference to the drawings.

CLAIMS 1. A container for dispersion ammunition and for the ejection of same, the ammunition being stored in ejection tubes in the container and ejectable bv gas generators wherein the dispersion ammunition container has a number of groups of ejection tubes. each group of tubes forming a module in combination with a gas generator unit which is positioned outside the tubes and which is connected with the tubes of a group through conduits for tranernissic,n of gas bJ hic'? ammunition contained in the tubes of a group is ejectabl* 2. A container in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the ejection tubes of a container module extend the entire width of the module and surround the gas generator unit in an annular manner.

3. A container in accordance with Claim 3, wherein the ejection tubes are arranged in pairs having opposite directions of ejection.

4. A container in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ejection tubes extend over the full width of the module and are closed at one end, a propulsion surface being mounted at the closed ends for the purpose of ejecting ammunition from the open ends of the tubes, th -surface being designed to be subjected to the gases of the gas generator unit which feed the ejection tube via the conduits 5. A container in accordance with Claim 4, wherein a container module has four ejection tubes arranged around the central gas generator unit in an annular manner.

6. A container in accordance with Claim 4 or 5, wherein the gas generator unit comprises a twin generator positioned in a cylindrical pipe and ignitable in the middle thereof, two gas chambers being provided one at each end of the pipe with an equal number of tappings leading into corresponding ejection tubes from each gas chamber, the tubes having approximately the same but opposed directions of ejection.

7. A container in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein each container module has four parallel ejection tubes.