Novel penetrator study for defeat of ballistic missile payloads

Aimable kinetic energy rod (KER) warheads are one of the most efficient types of kill enhancement concepts for missile interceptors that exist today. This is because these devices contain minimal explosive, allowing most of its warhead weight to be designed as lethal penetrators. These projectiles are deployed at low velocity and rely on the relative velocity for the penetration power. Static rod deployment testing was performed to investigate the spatial distribution of the spray pattern as well as its deployment velocity. Raytheonʹs test program deployed over 900 hexagon and cruciform rods in order to understand the physics of their deployment. In conjunction with deployment tests, novel penetrator studies were conducted that determined that novel projectiles are better penetrators when compared with traditional cylindrical rods. A new endgame simulation was developed that predicts damage from closely spaced tumbling rods. This new simulation predicts the synergistic effects from any collateral damage against submunition and bomblet payloads. This new endgame model will allow for an analyst to optimize the rod mass, size, cross-section and L/D ratio against ballistic missile payloads.