A Throttling Solid Propellant Rocket Motor with Adaptive Thrust Control

This proposal outlines a Phase I SBIR program to define and develop a throttling solid propellant rocket motor with enhanced performance capability and minimum 15:1 turndown that provides total thrust management capability for tactical missile applications thru adaptive control and propellant extinguishment (also non-extinguishment) techniques. The adaptive control techniques to be used will interface with a variable area nozzle system to provide closed-loop control system capability with the built-in intelligence necessary to provide on-demand thrust control to the missile. Active optimal thrust control during the important ignition transient phase will be fully implemented and the overall delivered performance of the pintle motor will be maximized to the greatest extent possible. Many propellant formulations obtained from three different propulsion companies will be evaluated to ascertain the candidate providing the greatest overall motor performance capability. Insensitive munitions, aging, smoke and other important propellant performance parameters will be ranked and scored to determine this BEST available propellant candidate. As a result of PRI''s present state of pintle motor development in several key program focus areas, the Phase II program will be able to concentrate exclusively on hardware development and pintle motor testing. In addition to testing at propulsion companies, pintle motor testing at support contractor operated Government testing facilities will also be proposed with Sponsor approval.