Non-hazardous technologies for airframes and dispersion mechanisms

Propellants and explosives in current gun fired munitions involve the storage and usage of energetic materials. The 25-year average age of the US ammunition stockpile is a major concern. Midé is proposing innovative technologies for airframes; airframe separation and payload dispense mechanisms that will lead to a new class of high lethality ammunitions with a Hazmat Class of 1.4S, avoiding aging problems and significantly reducing the life-cycle cost. One application of the technology is the new electro-magnetic gun that is being developed by the Navy. This gun will fire a kinetic energy round that can deliver 20 MJ on targets as far away as 200 nautical miles, surpassing current munition capabilities. In the Base Effort, Midé will take a system’s engineering approach to the design of the airframe and the payload dispersion mechanisms. Detailed requirements will be established and launch and in-flight loads will be characterized to allow structural and thermal integrity studies to optimize the designs. Novel liquid metal alloys and composite materials will be considered as airframe materials. Static tests on scaled test articles will be used to verify and update models. In the Option, Midé will continue to refine the designs and conduct gun testing to verify performance under realistic launch loads.