HYBRID CHARGE FOR LOW COST COMVAT CASED TELESCOPED AMMUNITION

A HYBRID PROPELLING CHARGE, CONSISTING PARTLY OF CONSOLIDATED CONVENTIONAL GRANULAR PROPELLANT AND PARTLY OF A MONOLITHIC GRAIN OF VERY HIGH BURN RATE (VHBR) PROPELLANT, IS PROPOSED FOR USE IN THE 45 MM CASED TELESCOPED AMMUNITION FOR THE COMVAT SYSTEM. SUFFICIENT INFORMATION EXISTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF VHBR PROPELLANTS IN MONOLITHIC GRAIN PROPELLING CHARGES TO ESTABLISH HIGH CONFIDENCE IN PREDICTING PERFORMANCE AND IN OVERCOMING THE TYPICAL RELATED IGNITION PROBLEMS. CAMDEC HAS WRITTEN A PROGRAM TO MODEL PERFORMANCE WHICH SHOWS THAT THE PRESENT CASED TELESCOPED ROUNDS CAN BE CONSIDERABLY DOWNSIZED, OR CAN FIRE HEAVIER PROJECTILES AT NO INCREASE IN CARTRIDGE SIZE OR CHAMBER PRESSURE. FURTHER, THE VHBR PROPELLANTS ARE VERY PRODUCIBLE AND OFFER A POTENTIAL LOW COST CASTABLE OR EXTRUDABLE CHARGE FOR CASED TELESCOPED AMMUNITION. ALTHOUGH NOT FULLY EVALUATED WITH RESPECT TO VULNERABLY, PRELIMINARY DATA SHOW LOVA CHARACTERISTICS. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROGRAM ARE TO DEMONSTRATE HYBRID CHARGE PERFORMANCE IN 30 MM CONVENTIONAL AMMUNITION, AND TO GENERATE DESIGNS FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE 45 MM CASED TELESCOPED AMMUNITION.