RU2107250C1 - Object protective system - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: means providing for protection (safety) of national-economic and military objects against premeditated external initiating emergency conditions on these objects. SUBSTANCE: object protective system involves electric power supply systems installed on the object, thermal power plant with an exhaust branch pipe and thermosmoke equipment, whose outlet is connected to the exhaust branch pipe. It is also furnished with sprayers located on object outer surface, main tank with electric heater, whose input is connected to the output of electric power supply system, pump with electric drive, whose input is connected to the output of electric power supply system, coil pipe located on the exhaust branch pipe, safety valve, distributing cock, whose second outlet is connected to the inlets of the sprayers, all successively connected through water conduits, and parallel-connected additional tanks, whose outlets are connected to the inlet of the main tank. EFFECT: enhanced reliability. 1 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to means for providing protection (safety) of national (including military) facilities from deliberate external influences initiating emergency situations at these facilities. Under deliberate external influences are understood (see, for example, Kostrov A.V. "On the problem of preventing initiated emergency situations at facilities and territories", collection of "Problems of safety in emergency situations", 1995, issue 7, pp. 36 - 61 ) specially prepared and carried out, for example, by illegal formations, sabotage groups, terrorist units, military formations, etc., impacts on objects (their critical element) using means of destruction operating by thermal contrast, in the characteristics of guided aircraft with thermal homing heads (see, for example, Efremov E., Dvoretsky A. "Air-to-surface air defense class", "Foreign Military Review", 1995, N 7 - pp. 33 - 41), weapon systems with thermal imaging guidance systems, etc. (see, for example, Slutsky E. Trends in the development of anti-tank weapons, "Foreign Military Review", 1995, N 9, p. 20 - 26).

 The purpose of these impacts (lesions) is to disrupt the functioning of the facility, initiate accidents or catastrophes on it, completely destroy it. Objects of protection can be both national economic facilities (factories, power plants, factories, railway and other transportation networks, etc.), objects of special equipment of the defense complex (bases, storage, warehouses, etc.), as well as military facilities (missiles, jet planes, ships, combat and special vehicles, etc.).

 Sources of thermal radiation can be chimneys, walls and roofs of industrial plants, near which are located power plants, open flames, diesel locomotives. In rockets and airplanes, thermal energy is emitted mainly by the jet stream of the engines and the skin of the hull, which is significantly heated during flight in the atmosphere. The sources of thermal radiation on ships, ground combat and special vehicles are mainly engine exhaust openings, smoke (exhaust) pipes, side skin, near which power plants are located (see, for example, A. Paliy. Radio electronic warfare. M., Military Publishing House , 1974, p. 216 - 219).

 Counteraction to thermal systems of destruction of objects is provided due to their masking and application of false targets. Objects can be masked, reducing the thermal contrast between them and the surrounding background. The power of thermal radiation is reduced by reducing the size and cooling of the radiating surfaces, by using screens and heat-insulating gaskets (see ibid.). Sea and land objects (for example, tanks, ships, etc.) are masked by aerosol curtains that significantly absorb the energy of thermal radiation. Smoke absorbing substances, as well as drops of fog and rain, have good absorbing properties. False thermal targets created for transmitting false information to thermal (thermal imaging) surveillance systems and distracting guidance systems to sources of thermal radiation should emit a power commensurate with the radiation power of the protected objects (see ibid.).

 Known systems for protecting objects, such as ships, from hitting missiles with thermal homing heads. They contain mortars, shells and containers with pyrotechnic elements (see, for example, Paly A.I. Radioelectronic Wrestling. M: Voenizdat, 1974, p. 217 - 218). After firing, a pyrotechnic cloud forms, distracting missiles with thermal homing heads. These systems have disadvantages. Their equipment is too bulky and practically cannot be installed on small-sized objects, such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, armored medical vehicles, mobile medical complexes, etc. The effectiveness of their use largely depends on weather conditions (primarily wind), and the stock of shells with containers and in some cases can be equal to zero. Firing a projectile with a container forms an additional unmasking sign. In addition, the installation of mortars in medical complexes and the firing of shells from them are not permissible under relevant international agreements and on moral issues.

 Known aircraft protection systems containing targets - traps for simulating aircraft and distracting missiles with thermal homing heads, which are guided missiles launched from aircraft or non-terrestrial installations (see, for example, Paly A. I. "Electronic warfare." M .: Military Publishing House, 1974, p. 217 - 218). In addition to the above disadvantages, these systems are too expensive, since false thermal targets, in addition to using guided missiles, must radiate power comparable with the radiation power of protected objects. That is, heat wave generators used as spurious targets must be able to radiate power reaching several kilowatts for units of seconds.

 The object’s protection system is also known, which contains a thermal installation with an exhaust pipe installed on it, a power supply system and thermal smoke equipment (“Object 434”, TO and IE, book 2, Central Research Institute of Information, 1974, pp. 75, 126, 229, 284–286) .

 This system is in technical essence and essential features is the closest to the claimed and adopted as a prototype. Its main advantages are compactness, simplicity and cheapness. Due to these advantages, it can be installed on such small-sized objects as tanks and other vehicles, which have their own propulsion systems and power supply systems capable of performing the corresponding functions in the protection system. In addition, due to the possibility of using the fuel reserves of a standard thermal installation, the use of this protection system is possible at any time during the operation of the facility itself.

 The installation of thermal smoke equipment at the facility made it possible to significantly increase its degree of protection against detection, but mainly only in the visible range of the spectrum. In addition, the mobility of the object and external conditions significantly reduce the effectiveness of protection, and in some cases the generated smoke cloud impedes the normal functioning of the object itself.

 It should also be noted that currently in the armies of NATO countries there is an increasing number of types of guided weapons that can interact on objects from the upper hemisphere. Many of these tools have homing heads (GOS) that detect a target by thermal contrast. However, target detection only by thermal contrast does not provide high noise immunity of the seeker. Therefore, in the third generation GOS, with the aim of eliminating false rummaging around fires, burning objects, etc. other informational features (secondary recognition features) are used, in particular the spatial properties of the target. For this, in some cases, the human operator is also included in the additional tracking loop (see, for example, Slutsky E. Shvedskaya ATGM Bill-2, Foreign Military Review, N 7, 1995, p. 30).

The decision on the presence in the field of view of the GOS of the object (combat vehicle) is taken mainly on two main information grounds;
firstly, the target should have a thermal contrast with the background (the primary sign of recognition);
secondly, the target must have certain spatial dimensions (a specific thermal imaging silhouette) - a secondary recognition feature (spatial selection).

 Spatial selection is carried out using a multi-element receiver of infrared (IR) radiation. Matrices of infrared sensors installed in the focal plane of the optical system of a thermal imaging seeker make it possible to obtain a thermal picture of the entire field of view observed by the seeker at each individual point in time and highlight the “hot spots” (targets) on it. In other words, it is possible to determine the comparative radiation intensity between the image elements and form the current thermal picture of the area in the process of finding the target. This, using the pattern recognition algorithm, ensures the selection of the object that is most similar to the target among other sources of thermal radiation. If the object under study does not look like a target (silhouettes of typical targets are stored in the memory of the GOS), the GOS will automatically be transferred from the detection and selection mode to the search mode. Or, a human operator will be used in an additional tracking loop (see, for example, A. Aleshin Optoelectronic devices for conducting combat operations at night, "Foreign Military Review", N 7, 1995, pp. 26-30). Based on the main signs of target detection and selection by passive GOS of the infrared range, the main unmasking characteristics of combat vehicles are the level of their radiation and the distribution of the intensity of this radiation over the surface of the object. The last sign determines the structure of the infrared silhouette of the object.

 A number of promising submunitions and combat elements are known, among them: Correrhead-2, Sadarm-2, EPHRAM, etc., using thermal imaging seekers with logic elements (see, for example, E. Efremov, A. Dvoretsky "UR air-to-surface class, “Foreign Military Review”, N 7, 1995, pp. 33–40). It follows from this that when a potential adversary uses these types of weapons, destruction of tanks and other objects will be massive.

 Based on the foregoing, the disadvantage of all the above protection systems is the lack of protection of objects (military vehicles) from detection by the indicated means of destruction of high-precision weapon systems. An obvious way to protect against detection is to reduce the emissivity of armored objects to the level of background formations (decrease in thermal contrast). However, for promising third-generation GOS, which are assumed to be highly sensitive, it will be very difficult to reduce the emissivity of combat vehicles to the level of background formations, since GSE will be able to detect temperature differences of several tenths of a degree.

 Therefore, the most likely direction of protection against detection is the deformation of the thermal imaging silhouette of the object to disrupt the GOS process of detecting and selecting a target. At the same time, the detection process is significantly complicated or completely excluded in thermal imaging tracking and guidance systems, including those in which a human operator is involved to increase the efficiency of object selection.

 The aim of the invention is to increase the security of objects (both stationary and mobile) from detection by thermal imaging means (thermal homing heads, thermal imaging observation and aiming devices, automatic thermal imaging tracking systems, etc.) by deforming their thermal imaging silhouettes.

 To achieve this goal, injectors are introduced that are located on the external surface of the facility, the main tank is connected in series with the main heater with an electric heater, the input of which is connected to the output of the power supply system, a pump with an electric drive, the input is connected to the output of the power supply system, a coil located on the exhaust pipe, a safety valve, distribution valve, the second output of which is connected to the inlets of the nozzles, and additional containers connected in parallel, the outputs of which s connected to the input of the main tank.

The drawing shows the relative position and relationship of the elements of the proposed system of protection of the object and the following notation:
1 - power supply system (SES); 2 - thermal installation (TU); 3 - thermal smoke equipment (TDA); 4 - electric drive (EP); 5 - gas pipeline (GP); 6 - fuel line (TP); 7 - exhaust pipe (VP); 8 - main capacity (OE); 9 - pump (N); 10 - a coil (З); 11 - safety valve (PC); 12 - electric heater (EN); 13 - water supply (VPR); 14 - distribution valve (RK); 15 - additional capacity (DE); 16 - atomizer (P); 17 - protected object (AO).

 The proposed connections and elements in the drawing are shown in dotted lines. Solid lines show the connections and prototype elements. Electrical connections are shown by single lines (between blocks: 1 and 2, 1 and 4, 1 and 12), and mechanical ones are shown by double lines (between blocks 4 and 9).

 The electric drive 4 of the pump 9 is based on an electric motor, the performance of which is determined by the type of power supply system. On stationary objects (for example, storage bases, field hospitals, buildings, etc.) it is, as a rule, an AC electric drive, and on moving objects (military and special vehicles, ambulance transport, railway transport, etc.) it is usually DC electric drive. The electric drive control equipment is included in the electric drive itself 4. Pump 9 is a water, centrifugal pump. It is designed to force the supply of fluid from the main tank 8 through the coil 10, the safety valve 11, the distribution valve 14 to the nozzles 16 and additional tanks 15. The coil 10 is located on the exhaust pipe 7 and is designed to ensure heating of the liquid. The safety valve 11 is designed to maintain a constant pressure in the system and is a steam-air valve.

 Distribution valve 14 provides the system in various modes. When his shift knob is in the initial position, both the additional containers 15 and nozzles 16 are turned off. When his shift knob is in the first position, the liquid from the main tank 8 is pumped through the coil 10, the safety valve 11 and the distribution valve 14 to the additional tanks 15, and of them back to the main tank 8. Sprayers 16 in this case are turned off. When moving the control handle of the distribution valve 14 to the second position, the nozzles 16 are connected to the system (to the output of the safety valve 11), and the additional containers are turned off. When the control handle is moved to the third position, additional containers 15 and sprayers 16 are included. Additional containers 15 and sprayers 16 are randomly placed on the surface of the protected object 17 in order to avoid symmetry in the deformation of the thermal imaging silhouette. It has individual cranes, providing the possibility of their autonomous connection to the distribution valve 14 (or disconnecting from it). Their size and design depend on the characteristics of the protected object 17. Some of the additional containers 15 are in the form of identification marks. This is necessary for their identification in the infrared range by their own means. In some cases, these identification marks are also carried out for the information of the adversary, for example, if the protected object is medical. In this case, part of the additional tanks is made in the form of a medical red cross and serves to inform the enemy about the purpose of the protected object. This information serves as additional protection for the object, since, in accordance with international agreements (for example, the Geneva Convention of 1906), attacks on such objects are prohibited.

 The protection system is activated in the event of a potential threat of the use of thermal imaging weapon guidance systems. The electric actuator 4 drives the pump 9, which pumps the liquid from the main tank 8 into the coil 10 located on the exhaust pipe, after which the heated liquid (vapor-liquid mixture) through the safety valve 11 and the first outlet of the distribution valve 14 enters the additional tanks 15, heating them and then back to the main tank 8, forming a closed loop. From the second outlet of the distribution valve 14, the heated liquid enters the nozzles 16, from which it is dispersed outward, onto the body of the object, warming the space and the surface around the nozzles. Additional containers 15 and nozzles 16 provide a change in temperature of individual sections of the surface of the object, and therefore, change the distribution of the intensity of thermal radiation over the surface of the object, which in turn deforms the structure of the thermal imaging silhouette of the protected object. When the protected object is located in areas with a high ambient temperature, the electric heater 12 is turned on to ensure the required temperature difference. Even if the thermal imaging equipment detects the object, the formed thermal imaging silhouette will not correspond to the silhouettes of potential targets embedded in the memory of the equipment (GOS, humans). Therefore, in the process of selecting an object, the GOS or the human operator will identify the object as a false target. In this case, the "capture" of the object does not occur, and the GOS switches to search mode (the human operator proceeds to search for another object). Thus, the object will not be detected, which means it will be protected from damage. This achieves the purpose of the invention.

 The combination of distinctive features provides the protected object with a new property, namely the ability to protect not only in the visible range of the spectrum, but also in the infrared, from thermal imaging homing heads, both conventional and with logic elements, as well as from combined homing heads that use thermal imaging at the final stage homing unit of the indicated types. Protection is also provided from thermal imaging devices controlled by the human operator.

 The positive effect of the use of this invention is that the introduced elements ensure the deformation of the thermal imaging silhouette of the object, and with it protection from the corresponding means of destruction.

 The invention can be used to protect any stationary and mobile ground (air underwater) objects that can be hit with thermal imaging means, especially guided munitions. Calculations carried out by known methods show that the probability of detection by the thermal imaging tools listed above is reduced by 13-15%.

 The ability to move the nebulizers and additional containers on the surface of the object creates the prerequisites for the formation of an individual thermal imaging silhouette deformation program for each object.

 All introduced elements of the proposed protection system does not cause difficulties in the process of its production and installation on the object.

Claims (1)

 An object protection system containing an electric power supply system installed on it, a heat installation connected to it with an exhaust pipe and thermal smoke equipment, the output of which is connected to an exhaust pipe, characterized in that it is equipped with a main tank with an electric heater connected in series to the system output and connected to the system output power supply, electric pump, connected input to the output of the power supply system, a coil located on the exhaust pipe, fuse valve, dispensing tap and additional tanks connected in parallel, the outputs of which are connected to the input of the main tank, while the second outlet of the dispensing tap is connected to the inlets of the nozzles located on the outer surface of the object.