Low density indirect fire munition system (U)

An indirect fire munition system for deployment from the atmosphere for defeating armor and vehicular military type ground targets without the use of guidance or homing devices, which comprises in combination:

• a directional firing explosive warhead,
• a directional target sensing fuze coupled with said warhead;
• a housing for said warhead and fuze;
• a parachute attached to said housing for retarding the descent of the munition on deployment;
• and
• vane means for inducing rotation of said housing during descent;
• wherein
• said fuze comprises an electric detonator coupled to a directional electronic sensing system containing a detector element, which is responsive to a characteristic signature of such a military target but is unresponsive to background and nonmilitary type targets, and which on detecting a military type target generates an output voltage which functions the electric detonator and explodes the warhead;
• said warhead comprises a projectile and an explosive propellant for directionally propelling said projectile at the target in alignment with the viewing axis of said directional sensing system;
• and
• said vane means is adapted to induce rotation of said housing by aerodynamic forces at a predetermined rate during descent and thereby cause the directional sensing element to scan the ground along a spiral path.