HIGH-LETHALITY LOW COLLATERAL DAMAGE FORWARD FIRING FRAGMENTATION WARHEAD

摘要

In a high-lethality low collateral damage forward firing fragmentation warhead, the case 18, 231 (and any containment structures) are formed of a materials that are pulverized upon detonation of the explosive 30, 238. As a result, the lethality radius of the pulverized case fragments is no greater than that of the gas blast, thus reducing potential collateral damage. Warhead lethality may be improved by configuring the fragmentation assembly to expel fragments with a more uniform distribution over the forward-firing pattern 22. This may be accomplished by placing a pattern shaper 48 between the fragmentation layer 40 and the explosive 30 to shape the pressure wavefront. Alternately, this may be accomplished by forming the fragmentation layer and explosive with complementary dome-shapes 252, 240 that approximately matches the shape of the front of the pressure wave 270. The two approaches may be combined by placing a variable-thickness pattern shaper 310 between the dome-shaped fragmentation layer 252 and the explosive 238 to provide additional shaping of the forward-firing pattern. Warhead weight and cost can be reduced by eliminating explosive at the aft end of the warhead that does not contribute to the total energy imparted to the fragments. More specifically, the aft section of the explosive and explosive containment structure may be tapered to approximately match the expansion of the pressure wave from the single-point aft detonation.