A Superconducting Magnet Dewar Missile for Launching in Ballistic Ranges

One concept for magnetic guidance of projectiles in hypervelocity ballistic ranges is the use of a superconducting magnet within the projectile. The magnet must survive the large launch loads 250,000 gs necessary to achieve test velocities 20,000 ftsec. This report describes a conceptual design of a dewar which contains a superconducting magnet and its performance limitations. Thermal holding time for the preposed dewar would be in excess of 90 min. Structural strength aspects of the dewar components limit the launch load to 15,000 gs. consequently the current launcher at AEDC 50 ft long would be limited to velocities of about 5,000 ftsec or alternatively, an 830- ft-long launcher would be required to produce the desired velocity 20,000 ft sec. The use of new launch techniques or magnet configurations could affect these results.