Missile with highly backswept wing unit, in particular with delta wings

• US 4,601,442 A
• Filed: 10/25/1983
• Issued: 07/22/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Dornier GmbH (Government of France)
• Original Assignee: Dornier GmbH (Government of France)
• Inventors: Fruhauf, Werner, Lukewille, Heinrich, Heise, Georg, Friedel, Franz, Harms, Gunter
• Primary Examiner(s): TUDOR, HAROLD JAY
• Application Number:
  US06/545,083
• Time in Patent Office: 1,001 Days
• Field of Search: 244/3.24-3.29, 244/3.1, 244/49, 244/91
• US Class Current: 244/3.24
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/25 Fixed-wing aircraft VTOL aircraft B64U10/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/15 for conventional or electronic warfare
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/11 using internal combustion piston engines
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/13 using external fans or propellers
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/70 in containers B64U80/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 7/021 with radially applied torque-limiting friction surfaces F16D7/022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 10/64 of fins
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 15/105 Air torpedoes, e.g. projectiles with or without propulsion, provided with supporting air foil surfaces

Abstract

Unmanned missile with strongly backswept wing unit, in particular delta wings, which is transported in a container and is launched from the container by means of an auxiliary drive after release of a lock, and which during cruise flight is drivable by a propeller engine, lateral force surfaces (25) being deployable for stabilization of the missile during cruise flight, from retraction spaces (26) in the region of the wing root of the delta wings, and further a friction clutch (64, 65) is provided at the missile which, without supply of energy from the outside, couples the standing propeller 6 with the drive motor (7) running in the container, after leaving the container.

Claims

1. A missile for unmanned flight to a target from a launching point, comprising:

(a) a fuselage having a longitudinal axis defining a roll axis of said missile;

(b) a pair of delta wings connected to said fuselage, the junction of each of said delta wings with said fuselage defining a wing root and the portion of each of said delta wings furthest from said fuselage forming a wing tip, each of said delta wings having a front edge and a back edge extending from said wing tip to said wing root, and each of said delta wings having a storage space formed therein in the vicinity of said wing root;

(c) a pair of ailerons rotatably connected to the respective back edges of said delta wings;

(d) a pair of fins connected to the respective wing tips of said delta wings and having rotatable rudders thereon;

(e) a homing device mounted in the front of said fuselage for controlling said ailerons and rudders in dependence on the position of said missile relative to said target; and

(f) a first pair of lateral stabilizers rotatably mounted in one of said storage spaces and a second pair of lateral stabilizers rotatably mounted in the other of said storage spaces, each of said stabilizers having a retracted position in which the stabilizer is inserted in said corresponding storage space and an extended position in which the stabilizer is oriented substantially perpendicular to said corresponding delta wing, the first stabilizer of each pair extending below said delta wings in its extended position and the second stabilizer of each pair extending above said delta wings in its extended position, said stabilizers being adapted to stabilize said missile about said roll axis when extended.

2. The missile of claim 1, wherein each of said stabilizers as a chord length profile and an extension in substantial conformity with the cross-sectional contour of said delta wings in the vicinity of said wing root, such that said stabilizers do not protrude outside said delta wings when in said retracted position.

3. The missile of claim 1, further comprising selectively operable deployment means for rotating each of said stabilizers from said retracted position to said extended position.

4. The missile of claim 3, wherein said deployment means comprises cams actuated by prestressed compression springs.

5. The missile of claim 1, wherein each of said storage spaces is formed between a first and second rib extending in parallel from a front spar in said respective delta wing.

6. The missile of claim 1, further comprising

(a) a propeller mounted on the back of said fuselage for providing propulsion;

(b) drive means for driving said propeller; and

(c) a friction clutch means having a first position for coupling said propeller and said drive means and a second position for decoupling said propeller and said drive means.

7. The missile of claim 6, further comprising a shifting means coupled to said friction clutch means, said shifting means having first and second positions such that said propeller is coupled to said drive means by way of said friction clutch means in response to said shifting means being displaced from its first position to its second position.

8. The missile of claim 7, further comprising release means coupled to said shifting means, said release means having first and second positions such that said shifting means is secured in its first position when said release means is in its first position and said shifting means is displaced from its first position to its second position in response to said release means being displaced from its first position to its second position.

9. The missile of claim 8, wherein said shifting means comprises an engaging means which is radially displaceable by centrifugal force created by the torque of said drive means in response to said release means being displaced from its first position to its second position.

10. The missile of claim 9, wherein said propeller comprises a propeller hub having a counter-surface arranged to frictionally engage said engaging means following radial displacement of said engaging means.

11. The missile of claim 10, wherein said drive means comprises a drive shaft having a threaded portion, and said shifting means further comprises a threaded nut threadingly coupled to said drive shaft and coupled to said friction clutch means, said threaded nut being displaceable between a first position and a second position by rotation relative to said drive shaft in response to frictional engagement of said propeller hub and said engaging means.

12. The missile of claim 7, wherein said drive means comprises a drive shaft and said friction clutch means comprises first and second clutch elements, said first clutch element being coupled to said drive shaft and said second clutch element being coupled to said shifting means, said clutch elements engaging a bore formed in said propeller when said shifting means is in its second position and not engaging said bore when said shifting means is in its first position.

13. The missile of claim 8, wherein said release means comprises a shift pin axially displaceably arranged in a bore formed in said drive means, said bore having an open end and a closed end, and locking means coupled to said shift pin and to said shifting means for blocking displacement of said shifting means in dependence on the axial position of said shift pin in said bore of said drive means.

14. The missile of claim 13, wherein said release means comprises a spring arranged between the closed end of said bore of said drive means and said shift pin for urging said shift pin from a first position corresponding to said missile being mounted in a silo to a second position whereat the shifting means is released by said release means.

15. The missile of claim 12, wherein each of said clutch elements comprises a ring having a U-shaped cross section formed by a pair of lateral branches connected by a web, said drive shaft has a first annular projection formed thereon, and said shifting means has a second annular projection formed thereon, one of said clutch elements being arranged with its lateral branches on the respective sides of said first annular projection and the other of said clutch elements being arranged with its lateral branches on the respective sides of said second annular projection.

16. The missile of claim 15, wherein said shifting means comprises a threaded nut on which said second annular projection is arranged, said nut being threadingly coupled to said drive shaft such that the lateral branches of each ring are bent toward each other as said nut is axially displaced from a first position to a second position by means of rotation relative to said drive shaft.

17. A missile system comprising a missile as defined in claim 14 and a silo adapted to receive said missile, said silo having abutment means for holding said shift pin in its first position when said missile is mounted in said silo, said shift pin being urged by said spring into its second position in response to said shift pin becoming disengaged from said abutment means during launching of said missile from said silo.

18. The missile system of claim 17, wherein the height of said silo is less than the length of said propeller.