A SIMPLE SAFETY ARMING SWITCH

A SIMPLE SAFETY ARMING SWITCH FOR GUIDED MISSILES CAN BE BUILT AROUND AN ACCELEROMETER AND INTEGRATING CIRCUIT. IN GENERAL, DURING THE LAUNCH BOOST PHASE, THE ACCELERATION OF A MISSILE INCREASES TO A MAXIMUM JUST BEFORE BURNOUT. CHARACTERISTIC ACCELERATION PROFILES FOR A PARTICULAR MISSILE ARE DEPENDENT UPON FUEL TAILORING AND MISSION REQUIREMENTS; I.E. AIR-TO-AIR MISSION, GROUND-TO-AIR MISSION, ETC. AN ACCELERATION ACTIVATED SAFETY ARMING SWITCH COULD DETERMINE THE MISSILE'S ACCELERATION AND THE DISTANCE TRAVELED. SUCH A SAFETY ARMING SWITCH COULD COMPARE THE MEASURED ACCELERATION PROFILE TO THAT EXPECTED OF THE MISSILE AND PROVIDE A FINAL SAFETY CHECK BEFORE ENERGIZING THE MISSILE'S FIRING CIRCUIT. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACCELERATION ACTIVATED SAFETY ARMING SWITCH FOR A MISSILE. THE PROPOSED SWITCH WILL FIRST BE DEVELOPED IN ANALOG FORM TO FACILITATE DESIGN VERIFICATION. ONCE THE BASIC DESIGN HAS BEEN DETERMINED, THE SWITCH WILL BE REDESIGNED AS A SOLID STATE DEVICE.