A Technique to Create Repeatable Yaw in Long-Rod Penetrators

Abstract

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory recently conducted a set of limit velocity experiments of a long-rod penetrator striking an urban structure with 90o of yaw. In order for these experiments to be successful, the penetrator needed to be pitched to 90o, over a range of velocities, and in a manner where impact location and orientation was controlled and repeatable. This paper presents a method for generating repeatable yaw in a penetrator using aerodynamic forces that does not complicate the terminal ballistic results. The modeling technique used to design the lifting surfaces along with the experimental data is presented.