Conventional Warheads Research Articles

Blast performance of warhead shell materials: A numerical study

A conventional warhead comprises high explosive packed in a metallic shell. The metal, while adding to overall weight of warhead also has high collateral damage which is not required in case of attacks with accurately guided weapons surrounded by civilian populace. The present work mainly focusses on FE simulation of a typical aerial bomb with shell materials of Steel and composites of Carbon fiber, Glass fiber and Kevlar. The FE simulation using ANSYS explicit dynamics was carried out to analyze and ascertain values of stresses and deformations on the composite shell materials vis a vis conventional steel for alternate shell material application. The composites offer the alternative solution for casing materials of warheads while reducing collateral damage by disintegration on detonation.

Understanding Putin's Nuclear "Superweapons"

Peculiar as they may appear to Westerners, the novel nuclear delivery systems announced by Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2018 complement Russia's overall nuclear strategy. These weapons can be divided into two groups that serve different purposes. The novel "assured retaliation" weapons such as the Poseidon intercontinental nuclear-powered torpedo and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered ground-launched cruise missiles appear to be a component of a dissuasion strategy aiming to convince US decisionmakers to forgo strategic missile defenses. Russian leaders may believe that the extreme nature of these systems signals their resolve and determination to neutralize any possible threat to their retaliatory capability posed by future advances in counterforce targeting and missile defenses. The theater-range hypersonic missiles such as Kinzhal and Tsirkon, by contrast, serve a more quotidian purpose: increasing the complexity of integrated air and missile defense for potential adversaries. Armed with conventional warheads, these weapons can help attain practical military objectives in subnuclear conflict.

Velocity axial distribution of fragments from non-cylindrical symmetry explosive-filled casing

With the technical development of new warhead designs and explosive protection, theoretical research on the velocity distribution along the axis is important. The velocity distribution of fragments along the axis of 2 kinds of non-cylindrical casings, which were detonated at one end, was obtained and investigated in this paper with a flash-radiograph technique. The results of the experiments indicated that the rarefaction wave generated at 2 ends of the non-cylindrical casings was only related to the diameter of the explosive, instead of the filled ratio. According to the experimental conclusion, an “extended hard core” model was proposed, and its parameters were determined based on the analysis of the velocity distribution of different kinds of explosive-filled casings. This formula is able to directly obtain the velocity distribution of the non-cylindrical casing, which was detonated at one end, without needing experiments to determine unknown parameters. The formula is highly accurate and has a wide range of applications, which provides the basis for the new engineering design of diverse conventional warheads and explosive protection structure.

Protection of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) by using Anti-Anti-Ballistic Missile (AABM)

Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. On the other hand, an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is generally a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missile. So, it is clear that to make the operation or mission of an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) successful we have to eliminate the threat of anti-ballistic missile (ABM). This paper will discuss about the arrangement of a small tracking system and some small missiles attached with the main ballistic missile which can destroy any anti-ballistic missile (ABM) coming towards it. So, simply this small air-to-air missiles act as anti-missiles for any incoming anti-ballistic missile (ABM) which is targeting the main ballistic missile and we can simply call them anti-anti-ballistic missiles (AABM).

Does the US program of Conventional Prompt Global Strike threaten Russian national security?

The article analyses a concept of Conventional Prompt Global Strike aimed at developing weapons systems that can deliver a conventional warhead anywhere in the world within an hour as a prioritized part of the US military strategy. The Pentagon planners believe that deployment of CPGS weapon would allow a selective and far more effective response to post-cold war threats, such as international terrorist networks, “rogue states” and other adversaries, thus drastically reducing reliance on nuclear deterrent in a number of situations. Over the years the Pentagon’s R&D activities in this area encompassed numerous established and emerging weapon technologies, including use of surface-launched and sea-launched strategic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles. The CPGS program is raising serious concerns in Moscow, where Russian officials consider it as a threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenals and national security interests alongside with the US plans to develop and deploy global ballistic missile defense capabilities and attack weapons in space. Moscow predicts it could undermine strategic balance and trigger a nonnuclear arms race.

Evaluating Conventional Prompt Global Strike

Arming Trident ballistic missiles with conventional warheads to strike “high-value“ targets on a moment’s notice would likely cause more problems than it solves.

Waiting for Saddam*1

Because the United States is planning to invade Iraq, Saddam may fire missiles at us in Israel. Conventional warheads were bad enough in 1991, but now they may be unconventional. Anthrax? Takes a few days to develop symptoms, we'll have an ID before the patients arrive. Smallpox? A bit tougher, but at least part of the population was immunized in the past. The scenario we're planning for is chemical warfare. Up to 25% of patients may be pediatric if an unconventional warhead hits.

The Second Nuclear Age

For 200 years, the world has been shaped by Western military domi nance. Gunboats were replaced by battleships as agents of national power, which in turn were replaced by cruise missiles and stealth bombers. Until recently, these weapons belonged exclusively to Europeans or North Americans. But this monopoly on advanced military technologies is now ending. Ballistic missiles carrying conventional warheads or weapons of mass destruction (wmd), along with other cutting-edge technologies, are now within reach of as many as ten Asian nations from Israel to North Korea?a major shift in the world s balance of power. The rise of Asian military power heralds the beginning of a second nuclear age as different from the first, that of the Cold War, as that contest was from World War II. The world that the West created is being challenged?not just in military ways but in cul tural and philosophical terms as well. Just as Asia began asserting itself economically in the 1960s and 1970s, it now does so militarily, backed by arms that would make Western interference in Asia far more treacherous and costly?even in peacetime?than ever before. Western military power has always been about more than just winning battles against the weaker forces of non-Europeans. It has been a tool for shaping the world along Western lines, a symbol of general supremacy in commerce and technology that separated the developed from the undeveloped. Those who actively opposed the West's vision of the future would inevitably lose, and the West in the early

Conventional Warhead Systems Physics and Engineering Design. R.M. Lloyd. America Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4333, USA. 1998. 624pp. Illustrated. $89.95 (AIAA members), $104.95 (Nonmembers)

Conventional Warhead Systems Physics and Engineering Design. R.M. Lloyd. America Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4333, USA. 1998. 624pp. Illustrated. $89.95 (AIAA members), $104.95 (Nonmembers)

Bringing Prithvi down to Earth: The capabilities and potential effectiveness of India's Prithvi Missile

In recent years, the development, testing and ambiguous deployment status of India's short range Prithvi missile has caused great concern in Pakistan, and accelerated the missile race in South Asia. This paper summarizes the open literature descriptions of Prithvi and assesses the military effectiveness of Prithvi if it is used with conventional warheads in attacks on Pakistani airfields, command centers, and radar installations. It is shown that the current accuracy of Prithvi is such that a very large number of missiles would be needed to damage or destroy such targets. Given India's large air force, the small number of Prithvi missiles that have been ordered by India's armed forces, and the much larger number of missiles required to pose a significant additional military threat to Pakistan, the justification for Prithvi is obviously open to question. It is suggested that the induction of Prithvi with its present limited capabilities may be largely a result of institutional pressure from India's Defense Research and Development Organization, which is responsible for the missile program, rather than demand from the armed forces.

Mathematical Model for Damage Assessment of Composite Panels Subjected to Blast Loading from Conventional Warhead

A mathematical model has been developed to assess the damage to composite panels subjected to blast loading due to detonation of a conventional warhead in its vicinity. The theory is based on large dynamic deformation incorporating the effects of transverse shear deformation. A damage criterion based on Tsai-Hill/Hoffman failure criterion has been used. The results have been compared with those obtained by classical theory.

Exact Three Dimensional Mathematical Model for Evaluation of Antipersonnel and Antimaterial Effectiveness of Fragmenting/ Preformed Conventional Warhead

The basic theory for the evalution of warhead-target interaction in three dimensional space on the concept of partitioning the target surface into sub-target surfaces having atleast two such mathematically defined boundaries which are projections of randomly fragmenting shapiro rings of the exploding shell with respect to the point of burst or preferably the centre of gravity of the shell lying on the shell-axis is presented. The equation for any given orientation of the shell-axis to the family of cones around the shell-axis has been derived for the cases: (i) when both the warhead and the target are stationary, (ii) when the warhead is moving and the target is stationary, and (iii) when both the warhead and the target are moving. Expressions for the conditional probability of kill for at least one lethal hit, and for a finite number of lethal hits, p, among a group of r hits (r >- p) on a tactical target by fragments/projectiles of an exploding warhead for use in the above three cases have been derived.

Substituting Conventional for Nuclear Weapons: Some Problems and Some Possibilities

Previous articleNext article No AccessSubstituting Conventional for Nuclear Weapons: Some Problems and Some PossibilitiesGeorge H. QuesterGeorge H. Quester Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Ethics Volume 95, Number 3Apr., 1985Special Issue: Symposium on Ethics and Nuclear Deterrence Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/292663 Views: 6Total views on this site Copyright 1985 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Nose Drag in Free-Molecule Flow and Its Minimization

The superaerodynamic nose drag of a body in a free-molecule flow involves two parameters: the speed ratio 5 between ordered and random molecular motions (modified Mach Number), and the temperature ratio Tr/T between the solid surface and undisturbed gas. Simplifications of the drag formula are obtained at hypersonic as well as low-subsonic extremes. To minimize the drag on a nose of specified length and base radius, the ordinary method of calculus of variation was found inadequate. A generalized approach has, accordingly, been developed, and the specification of end conditions is discussed at length. Results of the present investigation indicate that in all cases an optimum nose requires a flat tip. The optimum nose curve for the hypersonic extreme does not depend on the temperature ratio, but that for the low-subsonic extreme varies in the following manner: for a hot body the curve is convex; for a cold body, concave. An optimum solution exists in a restricted range of specification only. With prescribed tip and base radii the admissible nose length is bounded below for the cases of hypersonic and low-subsonic hot body and bounded above for the case of low-subsonic cold body. A vanishing tip radius leads to an infinitely long nose in the former and a vanishing nose in the latter case. Optimum nose curves for several temperature ratios at the lowsubsonic extreme, as well as the one for hypersonic extreme, are presented. I t is observed that at the low-subsonic extreme, with Tr/T —> co, the hot-body solution asymptotically approaches the hypersonic solution—i.e., a slender conventional warhead with a flat t ip; whereas with Tr/T —*0, the cold-body solution asymptotically approaches the minimal-surface solution—i.e., (a) with prescribed tip radius, a catenoid; (b) with unspecified tip radius, a flat disc.