Detailed Lethality Assessments for Flight Test Events

Defensive missiles are being developed to intercept reentry vehicles and tactical ballistic missiles before their conventional, chemical and nuclear warheads can reach their targets. Both hit-to-kill (HTK) interceptors and fragmentation warheads are being devised. The proposed R & D will develop an ultra-high speed framing camera that will photograph the last 100 microseconds before collision. Fifteen images of the collision will be taken in succession during the 100 microseconds with a resolution of 1 centimeter. By imaging the collision, the proposed ultra-high speed camera will directly record the physical properties in and around the warhead location to provide a definitive measure of the interceptor"s lethality. The proposed camera would also be valuable in the development of interceptors with the required accuracy.