Weaponized UUV with floating barrel and externally accessible breech
AssigneeAdvanced Acoustic Concepts, LLC
InventorsAntonio Paulic, Terry Miller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A weaponized UUV has a sliding barrel and accessible breech. The barrel slides in response to the firing of a projectile, and moves a first distance un-arrested, providing time for the projectile to clear the barrel. After the projectile clears the barrel, a recoil mechanism engages the barrel, transferring the recoil load to the hull of the UUV.
Claims20
A weaponized unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for firing a projectile, the weaponized UUV comprising:
- a barrel having a muzzle and a breech;
- a hull, wherein the barrel is longer than the hull, and further wherein the hull comprises at least one physical adaptation that enables the barrel to pass therethrough along a first longitudinal axis thereof, so that the muzzle is situated proximal to a nose of the weaponized UUV and a portion of the breech extends aft of a tail of the weaponized UUV, and wherein the barrel is slidable within the hull along the first longitudinal axis, and
- a recoil mechanism, wherein the recoil mechanism couples to the barrel and to the hull, wherein the recoil mechanism arrests movement of the barrel when a projectile is fired therefrom by transferring recoil load to the hull.
A weaponized unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for firing a projectile, the weaponized UUV comprising:
- a barrel having a muzzle and a breech;
- a hull, wherein the barrel is longer than the hull, and wherein:
- (a) the muzzle extends forward of the nose of the weaponized UUV, and
- (b) a portion of the breech extends aft of a tail of the weaponized UUV, and wherein the barrel is disposed within the hull along a longitudinal centerline thereof, and wherein the barrel is slidable within the hull;
- and
- a recoil mechanism, wherein the recoil mechanism couples to the barrel and to the hull, wherein the recoil mechanism arrests movement of the barrel when a projectile is fired therefrom by transferring recoil load to the hull.
A weaponized unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for firing a projectile, the weaponized UUV comprising:
- a hull, the hull having a nose and a tail, and the hull containing internal functional elements and at least one tube;
- a barrel having a muzzle and a breech, wherein the internal functional elements and the tube are physically adapted to receive the barrel, the muzzle thereof disposed proximal to the nose of the hull and a portion of the breech extending aft of the tail and therefore being accessible for reloading without disassembling the weaponized UUV, and further wherein the barrel is physically configured to slide partially through the hull in response to firing the projectile;
- and
- a recoil mechanism, wherein the recoil mechanism couples to the barrel and to the hull, wherein the recoil mechanism arrests movement of the barrel when a projectile is fired therefrom by transferring recoil load to the hull.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.