A Compact Pulse Power Module for Missile Defense Systems

"Missile defense platforms will require a variety of electric weapons for a balanced attack defense. The integration of multiple electric weapons into a single vehicle platform requires very compact power systems and/or reconfigurable power systemsoptimize space and weight. For example, the same prime power source can be reconfigured to supply energy for vehicle propulsion and for hypervelocity electric guns, lasers, particle accelerators, and high power microwave sources as well as vehicleprotection systems. The viability of this approach is dependent upon developing very compact and efficient weapons power conditioning systems that mold the prime power into the correct voltage and current temporal signatures required by each system. Applied Physical Electronics, L.C. (APELC) offers a Compact Pulse Power Module (CPPM) system designed to drive multiple electric weapons without mechanical reconfiguration. The proposed system, at a minimum, will deliver a 5 kV, 10 kA pulse with a pulse duration of 1 ¿s. Systems employing multiple modules may be capable of delivering voltages in excess of 100 kV, currents exceeding several hundred kAs, and pulse widths of several ¿s. And since the proposed system is completely solid state, repetitionrates are only dependent on the primary source of power, and the lifetime of the system is dramatically increased over the traditional methods. The proposed method for generating repetitive, relat