RADIAL BLEED THRUST CONTROL SYSTEM RESEARCH FOR KEW

THE DEFENSE AGAINST SATELLITES REQUIRES EFFICIENT, HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE KINETIC ENERGY INTERCEPTORS THAT CAN BE LAUNCHED FROM GROUND, AIR, OR SPACE-BASED PLATFORMS. THE LOGICAL PROPULSION SYSTEMS FOR THESE INTERCEPTORS, BASED ON THEIR HIGH ENERGY DENSITY, LONG TERM STORABILITY, AND MECHANICAL SIMPLICITY, ARE SOLID PROPELLANT ROCKET MOTORS (SRM'S). YET, SRM'S HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PENALIZED, RELATIVE TO COMPETING SYSTEMS, FOR THEIR INABILITY TO PROVIDE COMPLETE ACTIVE CONTROL OF THE MOTOR THRUST. THE SUBJECT INNOVATION OFFERS AN ULTRA-ADVANCED RADIAL BLEED NOZZLE SYSTEM THAT REMOVES THESE LIMITATIONS BY PROVIDING FOR ACTIVE MEANS OF SRM TOTAL THRUST CONTROL. THE RADIAL BLEED CONCEPT IS AN EMERGING NEW SOLID PROPULSION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY WHEREIN CHAMBER GAS IS "BLED-OFF" FROM A SOLID PROPELLANT CHAMBER (MOTOR OR GAS GENERATOR) USING SMALL, RADIALLY-DIRECTED THRUSTERS (4-12 PER UNIT). THESE THRUSTERS ARE COMPUTER-CONTROLLED, AND WORK TOGETHER TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED CONTROL FORCES (AND MOMENTS) TO THE MISSILE BODY. THESE THRUSTERS RAPIDLY THROTTLE THE FLOW USING TWO-POSITION, "ON-OFF", HIGH-SPEED, ALL-ELECTRIC ACTUATORS. THESE ACTUATORS ARE EXTREMELY FAST, SMALL, ECONOMICAL, AND UNLIKE NO OTHERS EVER USED IN SRM HISTORY. THE RADIAL BLEED THRUSTERS CAN BE POSITIONED, SIZED, AND CONFIGURED IN ANY MANNER TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC MISSILE CONTROL SYSTEM NEEDS.