418:(ICBM) during the terminal phase of the approach, the RV will be traveling at approximately 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 km/h) while the interceptor will be on the order of 7,000 miles per hour (11,000 km/h). Because the interceptor may not be approaching head-on, a lower bound on the relative velocity on the order of 16,000 miles per hour (26,000 km/h) can be assumed, or converting to SI units, approximately 7150 meters per second.
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The primary advantage kinetic energy weapons is that they minimize the launch mass of the weapon, as no weight has to be set aside for a separate warhead. Every part of the weapon, including the airframe, electronics and even the unburned maneuvering fuel contributes to the destruction of the target.
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It may seem like this makes a warhead superfluous, but a hit-to-kill system has to actually hit the target, which may be on the order of half a meter wide, while a conventional warhead releases numerous small fragments that increase the possibility of impact over a much larger area, albeit with a
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much smaller impact mass. This has led to alternative concepts that attempt to spread out the potential impact zone without explosives. The SPAD concept of the 1960s used a metal net with small steel balls that would be released from the interceptor missile, while the
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697:. Since in order to reach an object in orbit it is necessary to attain an extremely high velocity, their released kinetic energy alone is enough to destroy their target; explosives are not necessary. For example: the energy of
771:. A typical bomb has a mass of 900 kg (2,000 lb) and a speed of impact of 800 km/h (500 mph). It is also applied for training the act of dropping a bomb with explosives. This method has been used in
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A kinetic projectile can also be dropped from aircraft. This is applied by replacing the explosives of a regular bomb with a non-explosive material (e.g. concrete), for a precision hit with less
572:{\displaystyle KE={\frac {1}{2}}m{v^{2}}={\frac {1}{2}}\times 1\,\mathrm {kg} \times \left(7150\,\mathrm {\frac {m}{s}} \right)^{2}=25,561,250\ \mathrm {J} \approx 26\ \mathrm {MJ} }
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warhead will produce a large cloud of small fragments that will not cause as much destruction on impact. Both will produce effects that can easily be seen at long distance using
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detectors, but such a signal will generally indicate complete destruction in the case of a kinetic energy weapons while the fragmentation case does not guarantee a "kill".
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used a metal fan that was rolled up during launch and expanded during flight. The metal has five times as much destructive power as an explosive warhead of the same weight.
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per gram, or about 5 MJ per kilogram. That means the impact energy of the mass of the interceptor is over five times that of a detonating warhead of the same mass.
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The main disadvantage of the kinetic energy weapons is that they require extremely high accuracy in the guidance system, on the order of 0.5 metres (2 ft).
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Another advantage of kinetic energy weapons is that any impact will almost certainly guarantee the destruction of the target. In contrast, a weapon using a
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is 4.6 MJ/kg, and the energy of a kinetic kill vehicle with a closing speed of 10 km/s (22,000 mph) is 50 MJ/kg. For comparison, 50
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is a function of mass and the velocity of an object. For a kinetic energy weapon in the aerospace field, both objects are moving and it is the
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are also kinetic kill vehicles. Hit-to-kill systems are part of the wider class of kinetic projectiles, a class that has widespread use in the
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guidance kits, to attack vehicles and other relatively "soft" targets located too close to civilian structures for the use of conventional
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As opposed to the anti-tank field, where the velocity of the tank can be approximated as zero compared to that of the weapon.
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weighing 5 metric tons, traveling at 509 km/h (316 mph; 141 m/s). This saves costly weight and there is no
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warheads are additionally equipped with an explosive directional warhead to enhance the kill probability (e.g. Israeli
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needed to reach the required performance, and also reduces the mass that needs to be accelerated during maneuvering.
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to be precisely timed. This method, however, requires direct contact with the target, which requires a more accurate
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No chemical munitions in the weapons also means that there is far less pollution of an area from a kinetic weapon.
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Lowering the total mass of the vehicle offers advantages in terms of the required
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At that speed, every kilogram of the interceptor will have an energy of:
305:. Typical kinetic weapons accelerate their projectiles mechanically (by
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Kinetic weapons are the oldest and most common ranged weapons used in
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with their targets, converting its kinetic energy and relative
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30:"Kinetic projectile" redirects here. Not to be confused with
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field to describe kinetic energy weapons accelerated by a
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that is important. In the case of the interception of a
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Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
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603:(SAMs) improved, and their targets began to include
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Weapon based solely on a projectile's kinetic energy
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1061:"Missile Defense: Meeting the Challenge Head On"
1039:"RIM-161 SM-3 (AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense)"
619:, which is dedicated to the anti-missile role.
976:. Texas A&M University Press. p. 57.
779:by mating concrete-filled training bombs with
685:Some kinetic weapons for targeting objects in
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705:MJ is equivalent to the kinetic energy of a
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775:and the subsequent military operations in
732:With regard to anti-missile weapons, the
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898:Textbook of Engineering Physics (Part I)
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842: – American air-to-surface missile
998:"Striking a Bullet with a Bullet: HOE"
746:Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile
584:has an explosive energy of about 4853
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1069:"Kinetic Energy Hit-To-Kill Warhead"
655:adding citations to reliable sources
599:As the accuracy and speed of modern
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1063:. Lockheed Martin. 22 March 2018.
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1008:from the original on 2023-09-20
901:. PHI Learning Pvt. p. 9.
642:needs additional citations for
387:(ASAT) fields, but some modern
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336:launched projectiles, such as
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794:Advantages and disadvantages
311:mechanical advantage devices
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262:of the kinetic projectile.
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949:. Wiley-VCH. p. 406.
742:Kinetic Energy Interceptor
617:RIM-161 Standard Missile 3
605:theatre ballistic missiles
242:. In kinetic weapons with
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594:Homing Overlay Experiment
145:Homing Overlay Experiment
1109:Anti-ballistic missiles
773:Operation Iraqi Freedom
695:anti-ballistic missiles
601:surface-to-air missiles
76:"Kinetic energy weapon"
947:Explosives Engineering
758:Missile Defense Agency
691:anti-satellite weapons
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389:anti-aircraft missiles
381:anti-ballistic missile
161:kinetic energy warhead
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1093:Kinetic energy weapon
945:Cooper, Paul (1996).
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385:anti-satellite weapon
356:weapons designed for
254:often determines the
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32:Projectile kinematics
18:Kinetic Energy Weapon
1095:at Wikimedia Commons
970:Kalic, Sean (2012).
651:improve this article
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173:kinetic kill vehicle
61:improve this article
855:Terminal ballistics
849:Kinetic bombardment
808:blast fragmentation
767:; these are called
354:kinetic bombardment
334:electromagnetically
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179:based solely on a
169:kinetic projectile
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1091:Media related to
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908:978-81-203-3862-3
862:Explanatory notes
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663:December 2023
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644:verification
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54:verification
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1114:Projectiles
719:hit-to-kill
687:spaceflight
365:hit-to-kill
303:penetrators
275:round shots
232:shock waves
187:to inflict
1103:Categories
1012:2023-10-21
882:References
750:Aegis BMDS
715:trajectory
711:detonation
707:school bus
383:(ABM) and
328:, as with
326:combustion
323:propellant
319:pneumatics
299:flechettes
240:cavitation
216:supersonic
197:incendiary
181:projectile
87:newspapers
1119:Collision
553:≈
493:×
478:×
393:anti-tank
373:aerospace
363:The term
193:explosive
1006:Archived
828:See also
816:infrared
623:Delivery
342:coilguns
338:railguns
330:firearms
291:javelins
205:chemical
790:bombs.
752:), and
744:(KEI),
717:. Some
395:field.
350:gravity
295:bullets
228:impulse
224:collide
212:payload
201:thermal
175:) is a
101:scholar
1026:HeadOn
980:
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586:joules
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301:, and
289:, and
279:arrows
246:, the
222:— and
189:damage
103:
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812:radar
754:THAAD
723:Arrow
367:, or
287:darts
283:bolts
271:rocks
108:JSTOR
94:books
978:ISBN
951:ISBN
903:ISBN
781:JDAM
777:Iraq
736:and
693:and
689:are
502:7150
344:and
273:and
258:and
238:and
236:heat
143:The
80:news
814:or
784:GPS
760:).
729:).
699:TNT
653:by
582:TNT
542:250
536:561
360:.
317:or
250:or
207:or
183:'s
63:by
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