Directional control-automatic meteorological compensation (d.c.-automet) inertial guidance system for artillery missiles

Claim 1

A missile disposed for flight according to a planned trajectory ending in a target including booster propulsion and sustainer propulsion phases of flight, said missile provided with a booster motor disposed for providing substantially constant thrust during operation thereof, and a sustainer motor disposed for providing thrust during the booster and sustainer phase of flight with the magnitude of the thrust being variable in the sustainer phase; a gyro mounted in the missile with the spin axis along the longitudinal axis of the missile, said gyro disposed for providing a signal voltage proportionate to the amount of deviation of said missile axis from said spin axis responsive to said deviations; booster control means disposed for actuation by said gyro signal voltage for creating pressure differentials across the propulsive gases of said booster motor for thrust vectoring of said missile to restore said missile axis in alignment with said gyro spin axis during said booster propulsion phase of flight; accelerometer means mounted along said longitudinal axis of said missile for producing a signal voltage proportionate to the difference between the actual missile velocity and a desired velocity, said accelerometer signal disposed for terminating booster thrust when said difference in actual and desired velocity is null; sustainer control means actuatable by said accelerometer signals for varying the thrust of said sustainer to maintain the difference in said actual and desired velocities at null and thus maintain zero net axial force on said missile in the sustainer phase of flight.