Munitions endgame geometry for optimal lethality system
AssigneeSURVICE Engineering Company
InventorsCharles Allen Larson, Kevin Thomas McArdle
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system that guides an airborne weapon toward a target, in order for the weapon to fuze at the target, so as to increase the probability of kill of the target. The system uses a lethality database that lists the various vulnerabilities for each target so that the weapon may fuze at a point that achieves maximum exploitation of the vulnerabilities. The system continually updates during weapon fly out in order to continually update the best achievable aim point for the weapon based on the changing encounter geometry between weapon and target.
Claims18
A control system for controlling a weapon, the weapon comprising a body having flight controls, a guidance system, a sensor system, and a fuze system for detonating a warhead the control system comprising:
- a controller in communication with the guidance system, the sensor system, and the fuze system;
- a lethality database having a plurality of entries such that each entry has a target entry, a plurality of vulnerabilities associated with the target entry, and a probability of kill quantity associated with each vulnerability;
- and
- wherein during a flight of the weapon, the sensor system identifies target as well as a first position coordinate set and communicates the target identified and the first position coordinate set to the controller such that the controller queries the lethality database in order to select a respective one target entry that corresponds with the target and retrieves the plurality of vulnerabilities and each associated probability of kill quantity, the controller determines which of respective one of the plurality of vulnerabilities having the highest probability of kill quantity can be attacked, calculates a optimal attack azimuth and elevation angle and a optimal burst height, and communicates the attack azimuth and elevation angle to the guidance system which then articulates the flight controls to achieve the attack azimuth and elevation angle and communicates the burst height to the fuze system in order to detonate at the burst height.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.