Short-range discarding-sabot training practice round and self-destruct subprojectile therefor
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorRalph F. Campoli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A short-range training practice round, for simulating a high energy type unition round, comprises a discarding-sabot containing a self-destruct subprojectile, e.g. of aluminum or steel, similar in external configuration to the heavy armor-piercing subprojectile simulated, and made up of a plurality, e.g. 3, of contiguous elongated mating segments held together during launch and subsequent flight by a heat-sensitive nose cap adapted to be heated by the airstream and disintegrate at a predetermined point in flight, allowing the segments to tumble in air, decelerate, and come to rest after a short flight.
Claims12
In a short-range training practice round for simulating a long-range prototype ammunition round of given caliber including an elongated armor-piercing fin-stabilized sub-projectile and a discarding-sabot of said given caliber mounted on said sub-projectile and adapted to be launched from a gun barrel;
- a self-destruct fin-stabilized practice sub-projectile for simulating said armor-piercing sub-projectile, comprising:
- an elongated body made up of a plurality of contiguous mating segments;
- releasable means for holding said segments together during launch and during flight prior to release thereof;
- and
- means for releasing said releasable means at a desired substantial distance in flight, thus permitting said segments to separate from each other and rapidly decelerate by tumbling in air, said distance being sufficient to simulate a substantial portion of the trajectory of said prototype round but substantially short of the full range thereof prior to self-destruct of said practice subprojectile.
A short-range training practice projectile, for smiulating a long-range prototype ammunition projectile of given caliber including a elongated armor-piercing subprojectile and discarding sabot mounted on said subprojectile and adapted to be launched from a gun barrel, including an annular discarding-sabot of said caliber and an elongated self-destruct subprojectile axially mounted within said sabot;
- said sabot comprising a plurality of identical contiguous elongated mating parts having radial and longitudinal mating surfaces, and frangible means for holding said parts together until after launch;
- said subprojectile comprising a plurality of identical contiguous elongated mating segments having radial and longitudinal mating surfaces that are circumferentially staggered with respect to the mating surfaces of said sabot parts, releasable means for holding said segments together during launch and during flight prior to release thereof, and means for releasing said releasable means at a desired point in flight, thus permitting said segments to separate from each other and rapidly decelerate by tumbling.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.