PENETRATOR MUNITION WITH ENHANCED FRAGMENTATION

摘要

A munition, such as a warhead, includes a penetrator casing for penetrating hard targets, such as a fortification or reinforced building or other structure, with the penetrator casing having reduced-thickness portions. The reduced-thickness portions provide weak points to the casing that facilitate the casing being transformed into fragments of a desired size/quantity when an explosive within the casing is detonated after the penetration occurs, thus enhancing the effectiveness of the munition. In addition, the warhead may have lethality-enhancing materials, such as additional fragments and/or energetic materials, at the reduced-thickness portions of the penetrator casing. The reduced-thickness portions may be holes, such as longitudinal holes, in the casing, or may be grooves on an inner and/or outer surface of the casing. The munition may be a dual-use munition, with the explosive able to be detonated at a burst height for use of the warhead as a non-penetrating area fragmentation weapon.

主权项

1. A warhead comprising:
a penetrator casing; and an explosive within the penetrator casing; wherein the casing has a series of non-intersecting elongate reduced-thickness portions, thinner than portions of the casing that are adjacent the reduced-thickness portions; wherein the penetrator casing has a monolithic nose without cutouts or openings therethrough, covering a front of the warhead; wherein the penetrator casing has a nose, and an aft section extending back from the nose; wherein the reduced-thickness portions are parts of the aft section; and wherein the nose has a thickest portion that is at least twice the thickness of the portions of the casing that are adjacent the reduced-thickness portions.