GB2430994A

GB2430994A - Guided missile

Info

Publication number: GB2430994A
Application number: GB8132088A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Sutton Ransom; Albert John Dunn; John Alfred George Moles
Original assignee: Short Brothers PLC; Thales Air Defence Ltd
Current assignee: Thales Air Defence Ltd
Priority date: 1980-10-24
Filing date: 1981-10-23
Publication date: 2007-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 2001-10-23
Also published as: GB8132089D0; GB8132088D0; GB2430994B

Abstract

A tactical guided missile 10 has a load comprising a plurality of guided sub-missiles 27A-F and 37A-F. The sub-missiles can be deployed in flight of the missile by driving them out of an open forward end of a thin walled skin tube 11 by means of a propulsive charge 20 acting on a piston 19. The use of a plurality of guided projectiles instead of a single projectile makes a lower accuracy of missile guidance tolerable. The sub-missile may be located in the annular space between an inner-hexagonal support cylinder and the tube 11, with their noses tilted radially outwards to assist dispersion. The remainder of the space contains foam segments which act as sabots and also constitute a nose portion 30.

Description

GUIDED MISSILE.

This invention relates to a guided missile which carries a load, usually but not necessarily a warhead.

It has previously been proposed to include in a shoulder-launched, antiaircraft guided missile a warhead which is one of a blast warhead, a fragmentation warhead, a hard-cased warhead timed to explode after the moment of arrival at the target and a simple, kinetic energy mass which is not explosive. All these alternatives have some dis- advantages.

Blast warheads small enough to be included in a missile to be launched from the shoulder are ineffective against well-armoured targets. In the pattern which the fragments of a fragmentation warhead take up, only a small number are likely to strike the target and consequently this form of warhead is not always effective. With a warhead which relies for its effect upon penetration of the target, an extremely high accuracy of the single warhead is needed if it is to be effective. The present invention seeks to ameliorate the disadvantages of these previously proposed warheads.

According to the invention there is provided a tactical guided missile having a load comprising a plurality of guided sub-missiles. The load would normally be a warhead.

The invention has particular application to the

field of aerial missiles, conveniently propelled

by a rocket motor having one or more stages. However,

it may conveniently find application in the field

of missiles which travel in media other than air e.g. torpedoes. Where the weapon is an aerial missile, the sub-missiles would normally be aerial sub-missiles, each again conveniently propelled by a rocket motor.

A lower accuracy of missile guidance can be tolerated if use is made of a plurality of guided projectiles instead of a single projectile. This feature is of particular importance in the area of shoulder- launched, anti-aircraft missiles.

The sub-missiles can be mounted within an annular space between the skin of the missile and a cylindrical surface of a lightweight support structure with its central longitudinal axis co-incident with that of the missile. The sub-missiles can be deployed by moving the support structure and the skin relative to one another, for example by driving the submissiles and support structure out of an open forward end of a thinwalled skin tube. Deployment of the sub-missiles can be, for example, when a rocket boost motor of the missile is all-burnt or when a proximity fuse in the missile generates a deployment signal.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal view of an aerial missile partly cut away; and Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken along A-A in Fig. 1.

The missile 10 shown in the drawings has a load within a tubular skin 11 which takes the form of a thin plastics tube which projects forwardly from the casing 13 of a rocket boost motor 12. Interposed between the load and casing 13 is a piston 19 which slides on the inner surface of the skin 11. This is described in our Patent Application No. 8034266, the priority of which is declared herein. Ignition of a propulsive charge 20 drives the piston 19 and load from the front end of the tubular skin 11 as if from the barrel of a gun, with the motor 12 and skin 11 subject to an opposite, rearwardly-directed force. The charge may be ignited by a signal from control circuitry 22, which detects when the motor 12 is all-burnt.

The load includes a cylindrical support structure 26 which has a regular hexagonal shape. In a first face A each of its six faces A to F two sub-missiles 27A and 37A are accommodated, with sub-missile 27A in a forward one 27R of two recesses 27R and 37R arranged one behind the other in the face A. An identical arrangement of missiles obtains on each of the remaining faces B to F. The sub-missiles are so cradled in their recesses that their noses 29 are tilted radially outwards by a small angle.

The sub-missiles may be controlled by polar control.

They can be guided by command guidance, beam-riding

guidance or field guidance with the provision of

suitable detector and control circuitry. The "mother" missile 10 will normally be guided by command or beam-riding guidance.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the support structure 26 and sub-missiles 37 A-F (and also 27A-F not visible in Fig. 2) are surrounded by a set of six segments 28A-F of low density plastics foam material e.g. polystyrene. The segments are part of the missile load along with the sub-missiles and support structure 26. They function as sabots, falling away from the sub-missiles when the load is ejected from the skin 11. The segments 28 extend forwardly of the sub-missiles 27 and skin 11 to form a nose portion of the complete missile, and are provided in this zone with a heat-resistant skin (not shown) to protect the underlying plastics material from the high velocity airstream over the surface of the missile during rocket-powered boost.

When the rocket boost motor is all-burnt, the ignition of the ejector charge 20 causes the load to emerge from the forward end of the skin 11, at which the segments 28 tend to move apart from one another under the aerodynamic forces present, rapidly losing their momentum. As the submissiles 27A-F and 37A-F become exposed to the flow of air through which the missile is moving they too deploy radially because their noses 29 are inclined outwardly. In the embodiment illustrated the individual submissiles are each steered by laser guidance signals received by a detector (not shown) in the rearward facing surface thereof. Canard control surfaces 31 on each sub- missile guide the sub-missile by polar control to the target.

The warhead (not referenced) of each sub-missile in the illustrated embodiment is a kinetic energy mass of 100 gins of tungsten heavy alloy but alterantive warheads may be employed.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A tactical guided missile having a load comprising a plurality

of guided sub-missiles.

2. A missile as claimed in claim 1, being an aerial missile.

3. A missile as claimed in claim 2, being an anti-aircraft missile.

4. A missile as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the sub-missiles are aerial missiles propelled by a rocket motor.

5. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the sub-missiles are located in an annular space between a sub-missile support structure on the central longitudinal axis of the missile and a cylindrical skin of the missile.

6. A missile as claimed in claim 5, wherein the skin takes the form of a thin-walled tubular barrel of plastics material.

7. A missile as claimed in claim 5 or 6, including means to propel the sub-missiles and sub- missile support structure out of an open forward end of the cylindrical skin, thereby to deploy the sub-missiles.

8. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including a target proximity sensing device and means to deploy the sub-missiles actuated by a signal from the sensing device.

9. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the load is supported from behind by a support assembly which includes a rocket motor, and means are provided for separating the load from the support assembly when the motor is all-burnt, the separating means comprising an ejector means for providing a driving force which acts on a forwardly directed surface of the supporting assembly and a rearwardly directed surface of the load to drive the load and the assembly apart from each another thereby to increase the forward speed of the load and decrease that of the assembly, and actuating means to trigger the ejector means.

10. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sub-missiles are so arranged in the missile that, at the moment of their deployment, the flow of the fluid in which the missile is moving incident upon the sub-missile has the effect of moving the sub-missiles apart from one another.

11. A missile as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of the sub-missiles is arranged such that its nose is further away from the central longitudinal axis of the missile than its tail thereby to provide said mutual movement.

12. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each sub-missile includes guiding means for steering the sub-missile by polar control.

13. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sub-missile includes guiding means which receive at least one of command guidance signals, beam-riding guidance signals and

field guidance signals.

14. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the sub-missiles has canard control surfaces.

15. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sub-missiles are supported in the missile by support members of a foam material, which members are driven apart from the sub-missiles, upon deployment of the sub-missiles, by the action on the members of the flow of fluid in which the missile is moving.

16. A missile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A tactical guided missile having a load comprising a plurality of beam- riding sub-missiles and means for discharging the sub-missiles from the missile, in flight of the missile along a flight path towards a target, by a force which accelerates the sub-missiles towards the target by reaction against the missile.
2. A missile as claimed in claim 1, being an aerial missile.
3. A missile as claimed in claim 2, being an 1.5 anti-aircraft missile.
4. A missile as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the sub-missiles are aerial missiles propelled by a rocket motor.
5. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the sub-missiles are located in an annular space between a sub-missile support structure on the central longitudinal axis of the missile and a cylindrical skin of the missile.
6. A missile as claimed in claim 5, wherein the skin takes the form of a thin-walled tubular barrel of plastics material.
7. A missile as claimed in claim 5 or 6, including a piston to propel the sub-missiles and sub-missile support structure out of an open forward q end of the cylindrical skin, thereby to discharge the sub-missiles from the missile, as aforesaid.
8. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including a target proximity sensing device and means to deploy the sub-missiles actuated by a signal from the sensing device.
9. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the load is supported from behind by a casing of a rocket motor, and means are provided for separating the load from the support assembly when the motor is all-burnt, the separating means comprising a propulsive charge for providing the said discharging force, and actuating means to ignite the propulsive charge.
10. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sub-missiles are so arranged in the missile that, at the moment of their deployment, the flow of the fluid in which the missile is moving incident upon the sub-missile has the effect of moving the sub-missiles apart from one another.
11. A missile as claimed in claim 10, wherein each of the sub-missiles is arranged such that its nose is further away from the central longitudinal axis of the missile than its tail thereby to provide said mutual movement.
12. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each sub-missile includes guiding means for steering the sub-missile by polar control. I0
13. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sub-missile includes guiding means which receive guidance signals from a beam of laser radiation.
14. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the sub-missiles has canard control surfaces.
15. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sub-missiles are supported in the missile by support members of a foam material, which members are driven apart from the sub-missiles, upon deployment of the sub-missiles, by the action on the members of the flow of fluid in which the missile is moving.
16. A missile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the sub-missiles includes a warhead which is a so-called "kinetic energy mass" warhead.
17. A missile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.