Missile Flashcards
Definitions
Jet propulsion vs. Rocket propulsion
Three types of missile
Cruise - longer range, close to ground, jet propulsion
Tactical - ESSM/harpoon, least range
Ballistic - global range, uses ballistic energy after propulsion
Three uses for missiles
Land attack - stationary targets on land
Anti surface - surface vessels
Anti air
Two roles for missiles
Defence - protect allied positions, units
Offence - strike enemy units
4 step launch sequence
Handshake
Upload track data/other info, missile acknowledges
Engine test/activate battery, ack signal
Motor fires, launch and verify missile launch
3 parts of missile launch path
Boost
Mid course - longest for most missiles, use terrestrial, celestial, inertial
Terminal - homing, command
Flight dynamics and describe (pic)
Lift - relative wind comes onto aircraft generates force on aircraft, becomes either drag or lift depending on angle of attack. Lift > gravity, stays in air
Stability - tendency to return to original position facing up, center of pressure has to be behind center of gravity. Can impact manoeuvrability
Stall - crit angle of attack exceeded, depends on design and speed, not generating enough lift
Label flight dynamics diagram
No pic
Purpose of launching system
Place a weapon into a flight path as rapidly as situation demands
Requirement:
Speed
Reliability
Safety
Comparability
Types:
Vertical
Rail
0 length
Canister
Platform
What is telemetry
Process of collecting missile flight data to improve performance and provide safety and control
Misfire vs. Dud
Misfired missile - missile that fails to ignite its engine or booster on launch
Dud - Fails to initiate its warhead
Restrained firing - missile ignites but isn’t released from launch system
5 sections of missile
Control system
Warhead
Body
Guidance system
Propulsion
Label missile diagram
Pic
3 types of control surfaces
Canard
Tail fin
Wing
3 components of guidance section
Seeker (terminal phase)
Flight computer
Autopilot
3 categories of guidance
Command
Homing
Active
Semi-active
Passive
Re-transmission (calcs outsourced to
platform, like semi-active)
Navigation
Intertial (onboard gyro)
Celestial (ICBM)
Terrestrial (load terrain)
Ranging
4 types of homing logic
Proportional - PIP calculates but missile doesn’t fly towards PIP immediately, farther away less manoeuvring, closer means more manoeuvrability
Pursuit - missile points it’s seeker at target all the time
Line of sight - base station illuminates target for missile, missile flies towards it
Constant bearing - predicts where missile can intercept, flies towards that, recalculated intercept as flight path changes
Warhead diagram
Pic
Secondary damage elements
Any elements of the missile that increase the damage effect (missile body, fuel)
Explosive transfers destructive energy to target
Energy coupling
How is yield measured
Measured in relation to TNT equivalent of the blast it produces
Char of warhead that dictate how much dmg it imparts
Damage volume- kill zone
Attenuation - how fast does damage being done attenuate (hellfire)
Propagation - how damage is sent into atmosphere
Types of warheads
Explosive (conventional and nuclear
Special purpose (unconventional)
Conventional - blast warhead, fragmentation, rod, shaped charge
Unconventional - chemical and biological
Blast warhead
Drag loading - object is fixed hit by shockwave suffers strain and may collapse, not fixed it flies around
Diffraction loading - shock wave applies to all sides (house being squeezed)
Special purpose warheads
Chemical
Biological
Jet engine
Propels the missile
Thrust opposite of expelled gas jet
Turbo jet/fan, ramjet, rockets
Components of turbo jet/fan [engine core]
Compression
Turbine - spins compressed air
Combustion
Turbojet
Engine core makes up bulk, air input, compressed, combusted
Used by cruise missiles primarily
Turbofan
Fan in front puts air around engine core, some goes through the core
Larger, slower, not great for missiles
Ramjet
Forward motion to start, inlets compress air, combusts, forced out of nozzle
Scramjet
Hypersonic speed
Rocket liquid and solid propellant
Fuel and oxidizer in body of missile
Liquid - fuel and oxidizer in separate tanks, mixed then ignited. Not used in ship missiles
Solid - grain packed into cylinder, burn propellant and produces high amount of gas
Rocket nozzle
Produces thrust through restriction of gas through nozzle
3 main components of control section
Control surfaces - change forces on missile, force to turn. Canard, wing, tail
Actuators
Control computer - receive info from guidance computer and gives commands to actuators
2 control arrangements
Cruiciform - control surfaces 90 degrees from each other
Planform - control surfaces 180 degrees from each other
Bank vs skip to turn
Bank - aircraft rolls, centripetal force in direction of roll and turns aircraft, lose lift, decrease altitude unless you increase power/angle of attack
Skid - use control surfaces to fly nose where you want to go
Missile structure
Pic
Nose cone
Rounded vs pointed nose cone
Forces acting on missile
Dynamic - platform hit by missile, launch, flight
Static - sitting in canister
Sectionalism in missile design
Replace/upgrade just 1 section instead of whole missile
Separate missile into sections
Size design
May impact range and manoeuvrability, could have larger payload, less stealthy
Design factor pay-offs
Range
Payload
Guidance
Speed
Tests and trials for missiles
EHM
Alignment
Tests:
Missile tests (BIT)
System tests
Alignment tests
Flight tests (Telemetry)
Live-fire
