The Source for Navy News
NSWC Indian Head to Develop Anti Chem-Bio Warhead
Story Number: NNS020411-01
Release Date: 4/11/2002 6:20:00 AM
By Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Public Affairs
INDIAN HEAD, Md. (NNS) -- Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head has teamed with Lockheed Martin Corp. to develop a special warhead that will destroy biological and chemical manufacturing and storage facilities.
The Agent Defeat Warhead project is one of the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) projects selected by the Department of Defense in March. The ACTD program focuses on rapidly placing maturing technologies in the hands of war fighters.
The Agent Defeat ACTD will demonstrate a high temperature incendiary air-delivered weapon system to defeat chemical and biological manufacturing and storage facilities. This weapon system will be capable of destroying the chemical and biological agent at an extremely high rate due to the unique characteristics of the high temperature incendiary fill employed in the weapon.
The fill produces a very intense heat source of long duration with low overpressure. This low overpressure performance will prevent the dispersal of chemical and biological agents. The fill also produces a disinfectant chlorine gas as a byproduct of the fill reaction that provides enhanced biological agent defeat.
The Agent Defeat delivery system will be either the BLU-116 penetrator with GBU-24 guidance system or the BLU-109 penetrator with JDAM guidance system. Either will be modified to contain the chemical and biological agent defeat payload.
Bomblets containing explosively-backed copper plates initiated by a thermal detonator will also be incorporated into the warhead. The copper plates are dispersed at high velocity to create holes in chemical and biological tanks to facilitate their destruction.
Both the fill and bomblets are dispersed by an expulsion charge within the target facility after the tail section is cut from the warhead. The sequence of the tail section cutting and component expulsion is triggered by a time-delay fuse.
The Agent Defeat ACTD is a 30-month effort divided into three phases dedicated to the development, demonstration and assessment of this weapon system. The cooperative effort includes working with the U.S. Air Force Air Armament Center (AAC), the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
For more information on Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head, go to http://www.ih.navy.mil.
E-mail this story to a friend | Send a comment about this story
|
All Any Exact |
|
