Payload Expulsion for Hardened-Target Penetrators

"Hardened targets such as tunnels, underground facilities and bunkers are among the highest priority targets in certain countries that have adversarial relationships with the United States. A goal for future munitions is to either destroy the facilitiesand their contents or to deny access and routine use of the facilities while minimizing collateral damage. Rather than using an overwhelming high explosive payload, future munitions will use sophisticated fusing and payload concepts to systematically andsurgically accomplish agent defeat and/or facility denial objectives. Future munitions will consist of a payload contained in a casing strong enough to penetrate a hardened facility. After entry, the payload elements must be expelled from the casing andthe defeat or denial mechanisms activated.The proposed Phase I program will be devoted to formulation and feasibility demonstration of a concept for expelling payload from a hard target munition based on fuze-generated information. The primary goal of payload expulsion is to minimize the residualpayload velocity relative to the targeted void space within the fixed hardened facility. The proposed effort will involve computer code development, simulation and experimental development work. The concepts formulated and developed during the proposed program may be incorporated into ammunition designed to attack hardened targets with minimal collateral damage. Potential commercial uses inc