PULSED DISK ALTERNATORS AS ENERGY-STORAGE DEVICES FOR ELECTROTHERMAL CHEMICAL GUNS

Electrothermal Chemical (ETC) guns require pulsed power supplies that deliver energy to the gun breech in the 1 - 5 millisecond regime. The most likely near term application for ETC gun systems is the U. S. Nav y 127mm Mark 45 guns. Pulsed Disk Alternators (PDA) constitute a class of flywheel based energy storage devices that are ideally suited to t he power levels, time constants and impedance matching needed by ETC g uns. As a result of its unique geometry, the PDA has inherently high e nergy density compared to other energy stores that are under considera tion for electric gun systems. PDA system elements and comparisons wit h capacitor based pulsed power supplies are reviewed.