Pivoting wire deflection and severing system

Abstract

A pivoting wire deflection and severance (PWDS) system that provides protection against wire/cable strikes for aircraft, especially helicopters, having external, belly-mounted gun systems that are pivotable in the elevational plane. The PWDS system is operative to protect against wire/cable strikes with the gun system in a forward stowed flight position and with the gun system pivoted to any position within the predetermined elevation angle of the gun system. The PWDS system includes a hard mounted wire cutter and a pivotable deflector member. The wire cutter includes upper and lower cutting jaws disposed in a housing and operative to sever wires/cables. The wire cutter housing is mounted in combination with the gun system so that the wire cutter provides protection against wire/cable strikes with the gun system in the forward stowed flight position. The deflector member is an elongated structure having first and second ends. The first end of the deflector member is affixed in pivotable combination with the wire cutter housing. The second end of the deflector member is mounted in translational and rotational combination with the gun system. The deflector member is operative for synchronized movement with the elevational movement of the gun system to provide protection from wire/cable strikes within the critical strike zone defined by the predetermined elevation angle of the gun system by deflecting incident wires/cables within the critical strike zone into the wire cutter.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.