Safe-and-arm mechanism for air-to-air missiles

摘要

A missile (10) including a propulsion unit (14) and a safe-and-arm arming head (12), the arming head having a safe state and an armed state, the arming head comprising: (a) a priming charge (36); (b) a main explosive charge (32) in spaced 324 י" ג בתמוז התש" ס - July 16, 2000 alignment from said priming charge; (c) a booster charge (48) displaceable from a safe position to an arming position, where said booster charge is in misalignment between said priming charge and said main explosive charge in said safe position so as to render the arming head in its safe state, and where said booster charge is in alignment between said priming charge and said main explosive charge in said arming position so as to render the arming head in its armed state; (d) an acceleration responsive mechanism (16) for cocking the arming head into a cocked state when the missile reaches a predetermined acceleration; and (e) a pressure responsive mechanism (18) for displacing said booster charge from said safe position to said arming position, said pressure responsive mechanism being responsive to pressure buildup provided by exhaust gases from the propulsion unit, said pressure buildup determining a time to arm and hence a safety distance of the missile from a launcher.