Design and Analysis of a Small Caliber Illuminating Round for Aircraft.
Abstract:
A preliminary design for a 20 mm cannon shell containing a freefall flare was developed. A set of design requirements for both an illumination flare and an infrared decoy were outlined. The final design can meet or exceed all the requirements. The flare shell travels for approximately 2.75 seconds after firing at which time the flare is ejected from the rear of the shell. The flare is decelerated by retractable drag fins for one quarter of a second before ignition. The flare has a burn time of approximately 6 seconds. Approximately 25 flare shells can produce the same illumination as a 2 million candle-power parachute flare although, of course, for a much shorter time. The flare shells fired in front of the aircraft may be used in target search allowing the parachute flares to be used to illuminate already located targets.