The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) has reported that it is developing a missile warhead that incorporates advanced composites for improved impact performance.
The warhead is being developed as part of ONR's Reactive Materials Enhanced Warhead Program, which seeks to demonstrate missile warheads that achieve catastrophic structural destruction of cruise missiles and manned aircraft.
The warhead works by enhancing the kinetic energy of inert fragments with the chemical energy released when reactive fragments hit the target, combining both effects to increase the odds of destroying the target. It promises potential lethality improvements of up to 500%, ONR states.
The reactive fragments are composed of an advanced composite made of powdered metal embedded in a plastic matrix. The composite was recently incorporated into a prototype warhead and used in a live-fire explosive static arena test against real and threat-representative targets. The demonstration showed that the new warhead has twice the lethal radius of its predecessors and improved structural target damage.
ONR says that the test results and engineering tool sets developed from this programme are now being used to prepare the warhead for transition into US Navy missile programmes, including the Standard Missile, the High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), the Sidewinder, and the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM).
The new warhead has been designated the Reactive Material Enhanced Warhead.
For further information, contact: Office of Naval Research, Ballston Centre Tower One, 800 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22217-5660, USA; tel: +1-703-696-5031; fax: +1-703-696-5940; Internet: www.onr.navy.mil
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