Kinetic Energy Kill Vehicles and Components

"Hypervelocity missiles are currently dependent on the deflection of aerodynamic surfaces for flight control. These deflections and surfaces contribute significantly to the drag of the missile. By eliminating these surfaces it is estimated that anincrease of up to 30 % in speed of kinetic energy penetrators can be achieved.Mid¿ proposes to investigate the use of precisely controlled, fast acting shape memory alloy actuators in combination with novel robotic techniques to control the center of gravity of a missile in respect to its center of pressure and obtain flightcontrol. The concept of a Mass Moment Missile is not new and has been under investigation by the Navy for some time. The benefit of superior power density smart materials, combined with precision robotics will enable the lightweight, simple and costeffective control of the center of gravity of a hypervelocity missile. This will eliminate all the drag producing control surfaces that are currently in use. The following benefits can be listed for the shape memory alloy control system:¿ No external aerodynamic control surfaces. This reduces drag dramatically and can increase speed up to 30%.¿ The material with the highest power density is used as an actuator. This means that the actuator is the lightest and uses the smallest volume while generating the required force.¿ A simple, proven robotic system translates the single plane linear motion of the actuators