Design and development of Propulsion System for Antitank Guided Missile

  • T. Mohan Reddy Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
  • A. Subanandha Rao Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
  • M. Sambasiva Rao Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
Keywords: Rocket motors, Aluminium alloys, Flight tests, Sustainer, Booster, Nitramine propellants, ATGM

Abstract

A Propulsion system is designed and developed for the third generation antitank guided missile (ATGM). It consists of a separate booster and sustainer. Booster is ahead of sustainer, having four nozzles canted to the missile axis. Sustainer discharges through a supersonic blast tube. Low smoke, high energy nitramine propellant for this propulsion system developed by the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, has been successfully flight-tested. The booster grain is tube-in-tube configuration with end inhibition and the sustainer grain is of end burning configuration. High strength aluminium alloy, HE-15, is used for rocket motor components. Glass-phenolic composite ablative material is used for thermal protection of motors and high density graphite is used for nozzle throats. The design considerations and approach, including grain configuration, nozzle, and ignitersare briefly discussed. The propulsion system has been extensively tested in static tests and in flights, establishing the satisfactory performance of the system.

Author Biographies

T. Mohan Reddy, Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
A. Subanandha Rao, Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
M. Sambasiva Rao, Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
Defence Research & Development Laboratory,Hyderabad.
Published
2013-01-01
How to Cite
Reddy, T., Rao, A., & Rao, M. (2013). Design and development of Propulsion System for Antitank Guided Missile. Defence Science Journal, 45(3), 213-219. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.45.4121
Section
Special Issue Papers