POST-INTERCEPT TRAJECTORIES OF MISSILE DEBRIS FRAGMENTS

A PROGRAM OF WORK LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CAPABILITY FOR FRAGMENTS IS PROPOSED. THE METHOD USED IS COMPRISED OF AN AERODYNAMIC MODEL FOR CALCULATING FORCES AND MOMENTS AT EACH INSTANT IN TIME ALONGTHE TRAJECTORY AND A SIX-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM EQUATION-OF-MOTION SOLVERFOR CALCULATING THE SUBSEQUENT MOTION AND ORIENTATION OF THE MISSILEFRAGMENT. THE RESULTS OF THE CALCULATIONS INCLUDE THE POST-INTERCEPT FLIGHT IDENTIFICATION OF A KILL AND THE SURFACE FOOTPRINT OF THE MISSILE FRAGMENTS FOR USE IN SHIP VULNERABILITY MODELS. THE METHOD WILL BE MODIFIED AND INSTALLED ON A HIGH PERFORMANCE GRAPHICS WORKSTATION WITH PRE-PROCESSING TO AID IN INPUT PREPARATION AND POST-PROCESSING TO ENHANCE THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS FROM THE METHOD. THE METHOD WILL BE DEMONSTRATED FOR SEVERAL CLASSES OF MODERN THREATS, AND VARIOUS APPROACHES TO VALIDATE THE METHOD WILL BE PROVIDED. A PILOT COMPUTER CODE WILL RESULT FROM THE PROPOSED FEASIBILITY STUDY.