Physics of Direct Hit and Near Miss Warhead Technology

This book discusses direct hit technology in conjunction with a new class of warheads coined "near miss or direct hit warhead technology." These warheads utilize most of their entire volume and mass as damage mechanisms generating 10–30 times more mass deployed in the target’s direction when compared with today’s warheads.

Most missiles and kill vehicles of today are direct hit only and do not contain a warhead mechanism. This book discusses the challenges of designing small lethality enhancement technologies that can be implemented on a direct hit kill vehicle. What makes anti-ballistic missile warhead design so difficult is that a designer must be able to design a warhead against many different tactical ballistic missile payloads. These payloads can vary from chemical submunitions to unitary high explosive to nuclear. Warhead designers of tomorrow must have an understanding of the kill requirement and vulnerabilities of ballistic missile payloads before an optimum direct hit missile or warhead is designed.

More than 300 four-color illustrations graphically represent the trades that warhead designers perform in order to optimize hit to kill lethality.