Gauging the Influence of Technology on Tactical Missiles of the Future

摘要

Tactical missiles, carrying kinetic energy, high explosives, or multiple submunitions are an integral part of the current and future US Army weapons inventory. Naturally, the number of missiles that can be stowed on any mobile launch platform depends on the size of the missile. Advances in rocket propulsion efficiency and improvements in guidance systems may make it possible to reduce missile size without a proportionate decrease in effectiveness. A primitive 1-DOF computer model is used here to show how advances in missile technology might allow smaller missiles in the future to carry out the mission of today's larger missiles. A scaled-down version of a typical current generation missile is taken as the next generation missile. Hypothetical improvements in this smaller missile are then chosen in four basic areas-propellant impulse, burn time, weight fraction, and aerodynamic drag-with the effects on lethality reported in a nondimensional format.