Fragmentable warhead of modular construction

摘要

An improved fragmentable warhead of modular construction for a missile and the like, that is generally made up of an intermediate warhead missile section and an explosive cartridge. The cartridge is selectively removable from the missile section thereby permitting the missile to be without an explosive charge until the missile is ready for tactical use. Moreover, the cartridge is of composite construction such that the outer shell of the cartridge is advantageously composed of an admixture of a suitable resin and a graphite material. By reason of this admixture the shell is not only of thin wall construction and of sufficient strength for handling the cartridge during storage and assembly, but also has sufficient electric characteristics so that the cartridge will not have electrostatic buildup that would detonate its explosive during handling and storage of the cartridge prior to assembly to a missile section. Moreover, the interior annular surface of the missile section is preferably provided with an appropriate grooved grid pattern for assisting in the formation of fragments of predetermined size when the cartridge is detonated. Furthermore, it has been found that the outer shell of the cartridge in being of thin wall construction does not adversely affect the detonation wave front of the explosive but in fact results in the fragments having a greater velocity than heretofore possible for impacting a target.