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US 10,551,147 B1Granted
Multi-barrel mortar launcher and method
AssigneeCombat Weapons Development LLC
InventorsJoe R. Follansbee, Robert M. Kelly, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multi-barrel mortar launcher with an array of barrels and a fire control mechanism, where the array is configured to fire one mortar round from each barrel with substantially the same time-on-target in an impact area having an array of blast radii corresponding to the array of barrels.
Claims18
A multi-barrel mortar launcher comprising:
- a base configured as a box with an open top;
- a plurality of mortar barrels secured in the box and arranged in a barrel array, each of the plurality of mortar barrels having a closed proximal end in the box and an open distal end directed upward from the open top of the box, wherein each of the plurality of barrels has a distinct combination of an elevation angle and an azimuth angle with respect to other ones of the plurality of mortar barrels;
- and
- a firing control mechanism operatively connected to the proximal end of each of the plurality of mortar barrels and configured to cause a mortar of a given charge to launch from each of the plurality of mortar barrels in a sequence such that the mortar launched from each of the plurality of mortar barrels impacts a kill zone with substantially the same time on target.
1 more element
A method of mortar defense comprising:
- providing a multi-barrel mortar launcher comprising:
- a base configured as an open-top box;
- a plurality of mortar barrels secured to the base and arranged in a barrel array, each of the plurality of mortar barrels having a closed proximal end adjacent the base and an open distal end directed upward from the base, wherein each of the plurality of barrels has a distinct combination of an elevation angle and an azimuth angle with respect to other ones of the plurality of mortar barrels;
- and
- a firing control mechanism operatively connected to the proximal end of each of the plurality of mortar barrels and configured to cause a mortar to launch from each of the plurality of mortar barrels, the firing control mechanism configured to fire the mortar from each of the plurality of barrels in a sequence that results in substantially the same time on target for all of the mortars;
- loading one mortar into each of the plurality of mortar barrels;
- actuating the firing control mechanism, thereby launching all of the mortars in the sequence, causing an array of blast radii defining a kill zone with a shape corresponding to the barrel array and all of the mortars having substantially the same time-on-target in the kill zone.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.