Guided munition and optical assembly with an annular folded optic having a slot extending therethrough
AssigneeBAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.
InventorScott J. Adams
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A guided munition and associated method, which may be implemented by a computer program product, is provided. The guided munition may have an annular folded optic (AFO) that may be positioned forwardly of the warhead. There is a thickness of the body of the AFO measured from the frontal surface to the rear surface and at least one slot extends entirely through the thickness of the body of the AFO. This enables another device, such as a sensor, to be placed in front of the AFO while providing slots for communication, power, and structural support passing through the AFO.
Claims20
An optical assembly comprising:
- an annular folded optic (AFO) having a frontal surface and a rear surface, and a body of the AFO extending between the frontal surface and the rear surface;
- a thickness of the body of the AFO measured from the frontal surface to the rear surface;
- a central axis extending fore-to-aft centrally through the body of the AFO from the frontal surface to the rear surface;
- and
- a first slot extending entirely through the thickness of the body of the AFO.
A guided munition comprising:
- a munition body having a cylindrical body with a front section and a rear section;
- a warhead configured to be coupled to the munition body;
- and
- an annular folded optic (AFO) within the cylindrical body of the guided munition positioned forwardly of the warhead.
A computer program product including one or more non-transitory machine-readable mediums encoded with instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause a process for a guided munition to detect electromagnetic radiation moving through an annular folded optic (AFO) to image a scene, wherein at least one image of the scene is provided to a target detection protocol or guidance protocol, the instructions comprising:
- receive, by at least one imager, electromagnetic radiation that has moved through the AFO;
- generate an image with the at least one imager;
- provide the image to one of (i) a target detection protocol that detects a target in the image or (ii) a guidance protocol that guides the guided munition toward the target in the image;
- sense a signal with a sensor positioned forwardly of the AFO;
- and
- transmit the signal through a signal transmission component that extends through a first slot formed through a thickness of the body of the AFO.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.