INVESTIGATION OF BULK LOADED LIQUID PROPELLANT GUN CONCEPTS

THE BULK-LOADED LIQUID-PROPELLANT GUN (BLPG) CONCEPT IS AN ATTRACTIVE CANDIDATE FOR MEDIUM AND SMALL CALIBER SYSTEMS BECAUSE THE MECHANISM IS INHERENTLY SIMPLE AND LIQUID PROPELLANTS HAVE POTENTIALLY FAVORABLE LOGISTICS, COST, AND VULNERABILITY ADVANTAGES OVER SOLID PROPELLANT WEAPONS. PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP BLPG SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE INABILITY TO ACHIEVE SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE UNIFORMITY AND SAFETY. BLPG RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OVER THE LAST SEVEN YEARS HAS DEVELOPED A BODY OF EXPERIENCE AND A DATA BASE OF RESULTS THAT INVOLVES EXPERIMENTAL WORK IN BOTH FIRING AND DIAGNOSTIC FIXTURES. THIS WORK HAS PROMOTED UNDERSTANDING OF BLPG PHENOMENA AND HAS LED TO THE FORMULATION OF CONCEPTS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CONTROL OR AT LEAST MODIFY OBJECTIONABLE INTERIOR BALLISTIC PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS EXPERIENCE BASE IN THE FORMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF A BLPG CONCEPT(S) TO BE SELECTED FROM SEVERAL APPROACHES AND DEFINED DURING THE PROGRAM WITH THE AID OF COMPUTER ANALYSES. BECAUSE THE UNDERSTANDING OF OBSERVATIONS IS CONSIDERED TO BE A CRITICAL PART OF THE FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION, THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK WILL BE AUGMENTED WITH MODELING AND ANALYSIS.