Enhancing the Precision of Artillery Rockets Using Pulsejet Control Systems with Active Damping

 

Bojan Pavković

Miloš Pavić

Danilo Ćuk

 

Long- and medium-range artillery rockets are used for indirect fire on distant targets. As they have large impact point dispersion, they are considered to be area weapons and are fired from multi tube launchers. Achieving high hit probability requires spending a vast number of rockets. A control system application enables the reduction of their impact point dispersion and the increase of hit probability. Pulsejet control systems are simple, inexpensive and efficient enough to achieve the dispersion reduction which justifies their application. This paper presents a simplified control scheme for artillery rockets named the active damping method which performs a correction of disturbances immediately after a rocket exits a launcher tube. It is shown that the application of such a control system achieves a significant dispersion reduction, and that it stands as an efficient method for the reduction of the effect of all disturbances except the deviation of the rocket motor total impulse.

 

Key words: rocket artillery, multi tube rocket launcher, rocket projectile, rocket control, rocket guidance, control system, pulse jet control, precision, error correction, impact point dispersion, effect on the target, Monte Carlo method.