EVALUATION OF INTERNAL BALLISTIC CAPABILITIES OF WAVE GUN FOR STRATEGIC WEAPON APPLICATIONS

CONVENTIONAL LIGHT GAS GUNS (LGG) ARE DESCRIBED, AND VARIANTS TO OBTAIN HYPERVELOCITY PERFORMANCE OUTLINED. CONCLUSIONS FROM RECENT CONTRACTS TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF LGG IN AIR-TO-GROUND WARFARE ARE PRESENTED SHOWING THE DIFFICULT TECHNICAL CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH A CONVENTIONAL LGG. THE WAVE GUN CONCEPT IS ADVANCED THAT AVOIDSTHE PROBLEMS OF A CONVENTIONAL LGG THROUGH AN ALTERED INTERNAL BALLISTIC CYCLE THAT ENABLES USE OF A LIGHT, EXPENDABLE PISTON. THE CYCLE ENABLES EXCELLENT LGG PERFORMANCE USING A SMALL L/D CARTRIDGE THAT CAN BE HANDLED IN A RAPID FIRE MODE USING CONVENTIONAL MECHANISMS. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM ARE TO DEFINE THE LIMITSOF PERFORMANCE AND THE DESIGN CRITERIA FOR WAVE GUN FOR STRATEGIC APPLICATIONS THROUGH EXERCISES OF THE AIBAL COMPUTER SIMULATION. AIBAL IS QUALIFIED BY COMPARING THE SIMULATION WITH EXISTING WAVE GUN EXPERIMENTAL DATA.