Claims
- 1. A projectile system comprising a generally cylindrical symmetric projectile with a projectile forward end and a projectile rearward end, the projectile having:
- a stinger head at the projectile forward end, the stinger head including
- a stinger nose having a nose maximum diameter, and
- a stinger body having a stinger body forward end joined to a rearward end of the stinger nose, the stinger body including
- a stinger nose support having a nose support diameter, and
- a flow separation groove between the stinger nose support and the stinger nose, the flow separation groove having a groove diameter less than the nose maximum diameter;
- a generally cylindrical symmetric projectile body joined to the stinger head, the projectile body having
- a projectile afterbody having a projectile afterbody diameter greater than the nose maximum diameter, wherein the projectile afterbody comprises
- a cylindrical central region, and
- a plurality of grooves in the central region, and
- a projectile forebody joined to the stinger nose support at a forward end and to the projectile afterbody at a rearward end; and
- a set of fins joined to the projectile rearward end for stabilizing the projectile against lateral instability.
- 2. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein each of the fins is foldable.
- 3. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein each of the fins is joined to the projectile body by a hinge.
- 4. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the stinger nose comprises a blunt forward face.
- 5. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile afterbody has a radially flared enlargement at the projectile rearward end.
- 6. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the stinger head is made from a material selected from the group consisting of steel and tungsten carbide.
- 7. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the stinger nose comprises a conical forward face.
- 8. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile afterbody comprises
- a payload cavity, and
- a payload contained within the payload activity.
- 9. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile forebody diameter gradually decreases from the afterbody diameter at its rearward end to the nose support diameter at its forward end.
- 10. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile forebody is conical.
- 11. The projectile systems of claim 11, further comprising a discardable sabot affixed around the projectile.
- 12. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile body forward end forms a cavitation void which extends fully around the entire projectile body when the projectile body is passed through water such that the remainder of the projectile body is not wetted.
- 13. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile is fired from a gun.
- 14. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the flow separation groove comprises a forwardly facing separation groove shoulder between the stinger nose and the stinger nose support.
- 15. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile is fired toward an underwater target from a location in air, through an air/water interface, and into water.
- 16. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile forebody is ogival.
- 17. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the stinger nose has a surface finish of no greater than about 16 micro-inches.
- 18. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the grooves extend parallel to a cylindrical axis of the projectile afterbody.
- 19. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile rotates during flight.
- 20. The projectile system of claim 1, wherein the projectile body is made, at least in part, of tungsten.
Parent Case Info
This patent is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 08/474,425, filed Jun. 7, 1995, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (34)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
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474425 |
Jun 1995 |
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