Impact of range safety requirements on electronic S and A (Safe and Arming Device) design
The use of a tactical Safe and Arming Device (S and A) as a flight termination system for range safety creates some conflicting requirements on the design of the unit. The purpose for a flight termination system (FTS) is to detonate the weapon under any unforeseen set of circumstances, while the purpose of a tactical S and A Device is to prevent weapon detonation for all but the intended flight profile. With the advent of the all-electronic S and A, the ramifications of the dual requirements on the design of the system should be examined. As viewed from the S and A design vantage point, the issue of range safety is really a reliability issue and not a safety issue. The purpose of the range safety policies is to ensure that the unit used to terminate the flight of a missile will function under any expected or unforeseen set of circumstances which the missile might encounter during its flight. This calls for a flight termination system which must function with ultra-high reliability and with special design features which allow it to operate even under flight environments beyond the tactical requirements. Henceforth, when the issue of range safety is discussed, it will be done so under the guise of the reliability of the flight termination unit, be it the tactical S and A or not.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6329973
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-88-2800C; CONF-8904157-1; ON: DE89009332
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 33. annual meeting of Ammunition Technology Division of the American Defense Preparedness Association, Albuquerque, NM, USA, 12 Apr 1989; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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