Missile With Remote-Controlled Warhead

Embodiments of the invention will be described in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal section through a guided missile,

FIG. 2 shows the guided missile approaching the target,

FIG. 3 shows the guided missile after ejection of the seeker head,

FIG. 4 shows the guided missile at the instant of warhead detonation, and

FIG. 5 shows a guided missile with extractable contact feeler.

The guided missile, shown schematically in FIG. 1, has at the front end a seeker head 1 with an electronic system 2 arranged therebehind, accommodated in a casing 8. The rearward end of the casing 8 is connected with the missile case 6 by means of shear pins 9. The missile case 6 constitutes the jacket of the warhead 3, fashioned in the present case as a hollow-charge head and containing a hollow charge 12; the hollow-charge crater thereof, which is oriented forwardly, is denoted by 12'. The steering section 4 is accommodated in the rearward end of the missile case 6, pivotable rudders 5 projecting therefrom. Furthermore, airfoil wings 7 are attached to the missile case 6. A proximity sensor 10, 10' is mounted at the seeker head 1 and is connected with the electronic system 2. A pyrotechnical charge 11 is arranged at the rear end of the receptacle containing the electronic system 2, this charge in the illustrated embodiment projecting into the hollow-charge crater 12'.

The proximity sensor 10, 10', designed, for example, as an opto-electronic sensor, comprising a transmitter optic 10 and a receiver optic 10', initiating the pyrotechnical charge 11 in accordance with FIG. 2 upon reaching a fixedly set distance A, using an electronic evaluating unit. The pressure reached by the deflagration of the charge 11 in the hollow-charge crater 12' has the effect that the shear pins 9 are sheared off, and the seeker head 1 with the electronic system 2 are ejected forwardly. The overlapping 13 of the missile case 6 with the frontal casing 8 acts during this process like a piston-type control whereby the ejection velocity is improved.

FIG. 3 illustrates the missile after ejection of the seeker head 1 with the electronic system 2. These two elements move away from the remaining missile 14 at a relative velocity corresponding to the ejection speed.

FIG. 4 shows the instant of detonation of the warhead 3 in the remaining missile 14. This instant is chosen so that the spacing X of the warhead from the target corresponds to the optimum distance desired for effect. The seeker head 1 with electronic system 2 has, at this point in time, impinged on the target. Since its partially deformed residues constitute thickening of the target, the optimum distance was calculated from the rear edge of these elements.

In order to move a seeker head weighing 1.6 kg away from the missile at about 30 m/s, 7 g of gunpowder is required as the pyrotechnical charge, as determined by testing.

The improvement attained with respect to the effect of the warhead by means of the solution of this invention can be explained by the following embodiment:

In a guided missile with hollow-charge warhead and seeker head arranged on and in front thereof, the piercing effect in case of armored steel was 2.5 times the caliber. At an optimum distance, without a seeker head arranged in front, the piercing effect could be increased approximately to 8 times the caliber. Even with a diminished piercing effect due to the seeker head separated from and still present between the target and the warhead at the time of warhead detonation, there remains an increase in piercing effect to at least sevenfold the caliber, corresponding to a 2.8-fold improvement.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4, it was assumed that the warhead 3 is initiated simultaneously with the pyrotechnical charge 11, and that a pyrotechnical delay retards detonation of the warhead so that it is effective at the optimum distance. This presupposes a substantially constant velocity of the missile in the proximity of the target. Since this will not always be the case, the warhead, in an alternative embodiment, is triggered by a contact feeler.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment, wherein the ejected seeker head 1 with electronic system 2 pulls a rod-shaped contact sensor out of the remaining missile 14, the length of the contact sensor 15 corresponding to the spacing X required for high-energy penetration.