ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN TWO-STAGE GUN FOR TACTICAL APPLICATIONS

HYPERVELOCITY GUN TECHNOLOGY WILL PLAY A DECISIVE ROLE IN THE FUTURE TACTICAL BATTLEFIELD. WEAPONS WITH MUZZLE VELOCITIES OF 2.5 TO 4KN/S (8,000 TO 12,000 FT/S) OR GREATER HAVE POTENTIAL USES IN ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF WARFARE. RECENT ADVANCES IN PULSED OWER TECHNOLOGY, SPECIFICALLY THE HIGH ENERGY DENSITIES AVAILABLE WITH INTERGRATED PULSE FORMING NETWORKS (IPFNS) AND ADVANCED ROTATING ELECTRICAL MACHINES (AREMS), HAVE OPENED THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP NEW ELECTRICALLY POWERED GUNS FOR TACTICAL APPLICATIONS. THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ART FOR IPFNS IS AN ENERGY DENSITY OF ABOUT 600 J/KG WITH AN INCREASE TO ABOUT 3,000 J/KG EXPECTED BY 1997. CORRESPONDING VALUES FOR AREMS ARE 2,000 J/KG AND 10,000 J/KG. THESE HIGH ENERGY DENSITTIES FOR STORAGE OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY OFFER THE POTENTIAL FOR ELMINATING THE MOBILITY PENALTY PREVISOULY ASSOCIATED WITH TACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF PULSED POWER. KTECH PROPOSES A NOVEL, UNIQUE APPROACH TO TWO-STAGE GUN DESIGN WHICH USES MODERN PULSED POWER TECHNOLOGY TO OVERCOME THE PROBLEMS OF MASS AND SIZE WHICH CURRENTLY PREVENT TWO-STATE GUNS FROM BEING APPLIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD. WE WILL DESIGN A TWO-STAGE HYBRID GUN WHICH WILL COMBINE SEVERAL PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES INTO A SINGLE SYSTEM. IT IS TERMED A "HYBRID" GUN BECAUSE IT USES AN ELECTRICALLY POWERED GUN AS THE FIRST TRANSITION SECTION. THE HOT, HIGH PRESSURE GAS IN THE TRANSITION SECTION THEN PROPELS THE PROJECTILE DOWN A GUN BARREL IN THE SECOND, GAS GUN STAGE. IT IS, THEREFORE, A HYBRID OF PULSED POWER GUNS AND GAS GUNDS, NOT LYING CLEARLY IN EITHER THE ELECTRIC GUN (EG) OR ELECTROTHERMAL-CHEMICAL (ETC) CATEGORY.