Compact High Power Microwave Payloads

The overall objective of this proposal is to develop the necessary components and to design and build a compact pulsed power system for the Missile Defense Agency that will produce little or no debris when activated. In particular, the energy requirements for the HPM payload appear to require an explosive-driven magnetic flux compression generator or one of it derivatives to provide the energy required. This application combined with other requirements of a constrained space, G hardening, and relatively low mass make this a very challenging objective. However, the additional requirement of little and preferably no debris generation make this proposed effort extremely challenging. The primary objective for the Phase I effort is to design, fabricate, and test the explosive generator which will be the key component for the overall power supply. We propose several approaches to enable the design of this explosive generator. First, the metal used in the generator will be minimized. Second, the kinetic energy will be minimized. Third, the quantity of explosive used will be minimized. Finally, the entire generator will be encapsulated in a modern composite to both contain the internal debris and to not spall from the outward shock wave to produce external debris. While extensive theory and computer simulations will be used as tools, the major deliverable for this effort is an explosive generator experimental test that both works as expected and produces little or no external debris.