Jul 14, 2026

US12680796 - Preformed composite fragmentation warhead

A preformed composite fragmentation warhead includes preformed composite fragments tightly packed around a casing that includes an explosive. The preformed composite fragments include an inner core encapsulated with an outer jacket. The inner core and outer jacket are formed from different metal materials with the density of the material for the outer jacket being lower than the density of the material for the inner core. Upon contact with a “soft” target, the outer jacket deforms and widens to increase the diameter of the preformed composite fragment. Upon contact with a “hard” target, the outer jacket erodes or shatters allowing the inner core to penetrate the hard target. The outer jacket also serves to reduce spalling upon detonation of the warhead explosive. The outer jacket fully encapsulates the inner core to ensure that the outer jacket impacts the target.

Assignee: Raytheon Company
Inventors: John Rascon, Jean Chauvel, Itthipol B. Chanapan
Filing date: 2025-01-13

warheadexplosivefragmentation

The patent describes a fragmentation warhead featuring preformed composite fragments that consist of a high-density inner core surrounded by a low-density outer jacket, designed to enhance performance against both soft and hard targets. Upon detonation, the outer jacket deforms or shatters, allowing the inner core to effectively penetrate targets while minimizing spalling from the explosion.

Claim 1

1 . A fragmentation warhead, comprising: a casing having an inner wall and an outer wall; an explosive within the casing; and a plurality of preformed composite fragments packed around the casing, each said preformed composite fragment including an inner core fully encapsulated within a discrete outer jacket, said inner core formed from a first metal material having a relatively high density and said outer jacket formed from a second metal material having a relatively low density, said relatively high density being higher than said relative low density; wherein in each said preformed composite fragment the inner core is individually encapsulated within its discrete outer jacket, wherein upon detonation of the explosive, a detonation wave travels through the plurality of preformed composite fragments propelling the preformed composite fragments including both the inner core and the discrete outer jacket towards a target. a casing having an inner wall and an outer wall; an explosive within the casing; and a plurality of preformed composite fragments packed around the casing, each said preformed composite fragment including an inner core fully encapsulated within a discrete outer jacket, said inner core formed from a first metal material having a relatively high density and said outer jacket formed from a second metal material having a relatively low density, said relatively high density being higher than said relative low density; wherein in each said preformed composite fragment the inner core is individually encapsulated within its discrete outer jacket, wherein upon detonation of the explosive, a detonation wave travels through the plurality of preformed composite fragments propelling the preformed composite fragments including both the inner core and the discrete outer jacket towards a target.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12680796

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12680796