Increasing the reliability of general purpose bomb fuzing in precision strike warfare

by 1972- Conover, Mitchell Ralph

The advent of modern high-precision guided airborne weapons has increased the need for extremely reliable bomb fuzing systems. An electro-mechanical bomb fuzing system is currently used in U.S. Navy and Air Force General Purpose bomb based-weapons to include Joint Direct Attack Munition and Laser Guided Bombs. The demonstrated reliability of that fuzing system in combat operations on average has been less than perfect. The operational commanders have expressed that this is unacceptable since any dud results in coalition forces being held at additional risk because a duded bomb could be utilized as an Improvised Explosive Device by enemy forces. Just as the Precision Guided Munitions transformed operational users’ mindset of one weapon, one kill, this same transformation has led to the expectation for greater reliability for the bomb fuzing system. It is the purpose of this thesis to describe and discuss a conceptual airborne bomb fuzing system intended to improve the reliability of airborne weapon delivery sufficiently to meet the newly-established operational requirements. This thesis will cover the components and reliability of the current bomb fuzing system, substantiate the requirement for a more reliable fuze system as a result of the precision strike revolution, and an approach to meet that requirement while balancing safety and reliability. The fuzing system concepts discussed are ones iii resulting from an effort performed as part of the High Reliability Fuzing System Study for the Precision Strike Weapons Program Office based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The study is an ongoing effort conducted by the In-Service Fuzing Systems Team, for which the author is Chief Engineer. Concepts to which the author has made significant personal contributions include an approach on how a certain sequence of events while time windowed will satisfy the safety requirement that a fuzing system design possesses an independent detection of the intent to launch and the post launch environments. The thesis also contains the author’s analysis of how the proposed concept will enhance mission accomplishment and increase overall reliability through the simplification of the system buildup, the elimination of points of failures inherent in the external components of the current system, and the system’s ability to produce failure feedback. Since in the mind of the operational user that reliability is measured at the target, the failure feedback from the proposed system will be the main contributor to increasing reliability for the system and improving overall mission accomplishment by preventing a dud from occurring. iv