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Microcontroller based electronic modules for

low velocity airburst Counter Defilade
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 Microcontroller based electronic modules for low
velocity airburst Counter Defilade munitions
Rakesh Nair G. Sakthivel
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) - Chennai Campus Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) - Chennai Campus
Vandalur Kelambakkam Road Vandalur Kelambakkam Road
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India -600 127 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 600 127
rakeshnair531@gmail.com sakthivel.g@vit.ac.in

Hemanth Mithun Praveen

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) - Chennai Campus
Vandalur Kelambakkam Road
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India -600 127
hemanth.mithun2013@vit.ac.in

Abstract Present counter defilade airburst weapon systems in
defense sector make use of simple logic chips which are devoid of
efficient inbuilt software safety that may cause accidental
triggering of munitions. This paper deals with the design and
development of microcontroller based electronic modules for
counter defilade system for low velocity airburst munitions. The
proposed design increases safety, cost efficiency and is highly
feasible with existing weapons for infantry units. For system
development, airburst analysis of munitions was investigated to
theoretically determine the effect on target in defilade. A static
rig testing of the entire system has also been performed to
determine the response, triggering time and optimization of
module design.
Keywords - Logic chips, microcontroller, electronic modules,
counter defilade systems, airburst munitions.
range of the weapon and is much safer, as the propelled
grenade required a surface for impact before exploding. These
systems are currently employed in battlefield to take out
trenches and other enemy encampments. But the projectile is
partly ineffective as a counter defilade weapon as it requires a
hard surface to impact and detonate. This led to the
development of field programmable counter defilade
munitions. These systems can be attached to a conventional
weapon [2] and use a logic chip based programmable fuse to
detonate the propelled grenade at a fixed distance. The
technology was extended to neutralize nearby targets by auto
targeting systems using range optics and [3]. The air burst
system to target infantry includes a grenade (normally 40 mm)
with a fuse positioned near the explosive [4].

I. INTRODUCTION
Weapons have always been part of human struggle and
their evolution. Weapons technology has made significant
improvement in the last century and continues to do so. Recent
developments in the warfare arena have introduced the world
military to the difficulties of urban warfare. Assailants in open
areas can be easily neutralized with line of sight engagement.
The same is not possible while engaging an enemy behind
cover or defilade where the target hit rate falls dramatically
when using conventional weapons. This dire need led to the
development of counter defilade systems that employ novel
methods to neutralize targets behind cover.
Conventional methods of counter defilade weapons include
hand grenades. They are armed and thrown at defilade
positions. After a delay ranging from 4-5 seconds, the grenade
explodes clearing the region. Hand grenades effectiveness is
limited to range of throw and timing [1]. It has a very high
chance of inflicting friendly damage, if not properly handled.
Hand thrown grenades were soon replaced with grenade the Figure 1. Airburst Counter defilade system operation.

1
 II. AIRBURST ANALYSIS
Most systems employing airburst use a targeting system for Airburst results in the expulsion of tremendous amount of
determining target to defilade (cover). The user then alters the energy rapidly resulting in the formation of a pressure wave of
distance which is entered into the logic chip integrated fuse in finite amplitude [7]. The hot gases expand with the formation
the form of time to the altered distance. On launching the of a layer of hot gases in front of them called the blast wave.
grenade, the timer starts and it counts to reach the exact time The blast wave has high energy close to the detonation point
required for the propelled grenade to reach the target. The but lessens as the wave travels away from it. This leads to a
timer detonates the trigger explosive which in turn causes the severe fall in pressure. Figure 3 depicts the blast overpressure
explosion of the primary explosive in the grenade, neutralizing profile of an airburst. Over pressure is the pressure caused by a
the intended target. Another type of airburst uses rotation shockwave above the normal pressure.
counter technique for triggering the explosive [5]. A rotation
counter is present in the fuse circuitry which is capable of
detecting every rotation of the explosive. As a grenade is
launched, it rotates on its way through the launcher barrel via
grooves. This rotation is constant for the propelled grenade.
The linear distance covered by the grenade projectile for every
rotation is same. Hence, by calculating the number of rotation,
the linear target distance can be calculated. S.H. Yoon et al. [6]
reported the fabricated and testing of a MEMS based magnetic
induction sensor. The sensor uses variation of sensor magnetic
field with respect to geo magnetic field to determine the
rotation count. Good sensitivity and shock survivability in
high-g environment were also reported.
From the literature it was observed that there is no trace of
research of using a microcontroller based electronic modules
for airburst counter defilade munitions. The attempts made so
far include costly systems with logic chips and no stress on Figure 3. Airburst blast pressure profile at different time intervals
software safety has been observed. So, an attempt has been
made to design and develop microcontroller based electronic The initial spike represents the explosion as the pressure is
modules for launcher and grenade projectile with better safety maximum. As time progresses, the pressure drop occurs until it
and cost effectiveness features. The proposed system reaches a negative pressure; a suction region. This draws in air
methodology of this study is depicted in Figure 2. from the surroundings and stabilizes back to normal pressure.
Blast overpressure is responsible for primary injury caused by
any explosion, affecting hollow structures and organs such as
respiratory, auditory, gastrointestinal etc. Hence, overpressure
analysis is very important to examine the effects of airburst.

A. Airburst parameter calculations

For airburst parameter calculations, a standard 40mm High
Explosive M397A1 grenade was selected. Table I depicts the
properties of M397A1 grenade.
Table I
Length 102.9 mm
Weight 0.23 kg
Body Material Aluminum
Filler/ Explosive 32g Octol/TNT
Fuze M536 PD
Cartridge case M118
Propellant 330 mg M9
Primer M42 or FED
precision
Max. Range 400 m
Figure 2. Methodology Muzzle velocity 76 m/s
Arming range 14-27 m
Kill radius 5m
Casualty radius 130 m

2
For blast parameter calculations, following parameters are used (0.101)(1.14733)2+ (-0.01123) (1.14733)3
as inputs; = 211.9364173(0.032)1/3 kPa-ms
Mass of explosive = 32g = 0.032kg = 67.28561834 kPa-ms
Distance to target from detonation point = 1m
There are different techniques for calculating airburst 2) Kinney- Graham Method
parameters. Kinnery Graham method of blast parameter calculations
include,
1) Kingery-Bulmash Method
Parameter Range, Z = (Target distance)/(Mass1/3) (1) Incident pressure at a distance,
Z = 1/(0.032)1/3
Z = 3.14980262 m/kg1/3 Px = {Po x 808 x (1+(Z/4.5)2)}/{(1+(Z/0.048)2)1/2
Blast Parameters of TNT explosive can be used as a standard x (1+(Z/0.32)2)1/2)x (1+(Z/1.35)2)1/2} (3)
from which others can be easily calculated. Here,
For TNT explosive, the Blast Coefficients are taken from the Z = 3.14980262 m/kg1/3(from Kingery
Kingery Airblast Tables for different parameters. Bulmash method)
Po = 1.013 bar
Incident Pressure, Px = 100 * 0.7308 Kpa
Pi = exp(A+B(ln(Z))+C(ln(Z))2+D(ln(Z))3+ = 73.08 kPa
E (ln(Z))4+F (ln(Z))5+G(ln(Z))6) (2)
Time of Arrival,
= exp(7.5938+(3.0523)(1.14733)+ TOA = {W1/3x 980 x (1+(Z/0.54)10)}/{(1+(Z/0.02)3)
0.40977(1.14733)2+0.0261(1.14733)3+ x (1+(Z/0.74)6) x (1+(Z/6.9)2)} (4)
(-0.01267) (1.14733)4 TOA = 1.542 ms
Pi = 104.444 kPa = 15.14832 psi
Here A, B, C, E, F and G are known as Kingery- Bulmash 3) ConWep Calculations
blast coefficients ConWep is a software developed by USAE Engineer
Research and Development Center- USA, consisting of a
Reflected Pressure, collection of conventional weapons effects calculated from the
Pr = exp(8.8396+(-1.733)(1.14733)+ equations and curves of Technical Manual TM 5-855-1 [8].
(2.64)(1.14733)2+2.293(1.14733)3+ (0.8232) The manual was prepared from the experimental data obtained
(1.14733)4 + 0.1427(1.14733)5 + over many years and has been proven to be very accurate.
(0.0099) (1.14733)6 ConWep Program results of Spherical free air burst for
Pr = 291.0179985 kPa 0.032 kg TNT (bare explosive) for 1 meter distance is as given
below.
Time of Arrival,
TOA = exp((-0.7137)+(1.5732)(1.14733)+ ConWep Results:
(0.5561)(1.14733)2+ (-0.4213) (1.14733)3+ ConWep 2.1.0.8
(0.1054)(1.14733)4+(-0.00929) (1.14733)5 Tue Oct 28 03:47:03 PM
TOA = 3.86207901 ms/kg1/3 Aboveground Airblast
= (3.86207901) (0.032)1/3 ms Spherical Free-Air Burst
TOA = 1.22613304 ms Charge weight 0.032 kilograms TNT
Range to target 1 meters
Shock Front Velocity,
SFV = exp((0.2597)+(-1.1326)(1.14733)+ Peak incident overpressure 73.92 kPa
(0.3767)(1.14733)2+ (0.0396) (1.14733)3+ Normally reflected pressure 191 kPa
(0.0351)(1.14733)4+ (-0.0351) (0.00432)5+0 Time of arrival 1.375 msec
= 0.468 km/s Positive phase duration 0.8751 msec
SFV = 468 m/s Incident impulse 19.56 kPa-msec
Reflected impulse 44.18 kPa-msec
Incident Impulse, Shock front velocity 1423 feet/sec
Ii i= exp((5.2749)+(0.4677)(1.14733)+ Peak dynamic pressure 17.37 kPa
(-0.2499)(1.14733)2+ (0.0588) (1.14733)3+ Peak particle velocity 455.6 feet/sec
(-0.00554)(1.14733)4+ 0 + 0 Shock density 0.1125 lb/cubic foot
= 2.9397(0.032)1/3 Kpa-ms Specific heat ratio 1.401 lb/cubic foot
Ii = 28.25278433 kPa-ms
Reflected Impulse,
IR = exp((6.7853)+(-1.3466)(1.14733)+

3
B. Airburst Simulation 2) Fragmentation velocity
ANSYS Autodyne analysis was performed for 0.032 kg For Spherical charges,
1/2
TNT bare explosive point explosion. A wedge setup was used V0 = (2E) x ((M/Cexp)+(3/5)) (6)
and flow out boundary condition was used for air explosion.
Results indicated the shock front pressure to be 106.8 kPa For Cylindrical charges
1/2
which is close to 104.4 kPa obtained from Kingery- Bulmash V0 = (2E) x ((M/Cexp)+(1/2)) 7)
method described earlier. Here, M = 0.32 kg
Cexp = 0.190 kg
(2E)(1/2)TNT = 2438 m/s
V0 = 2137.14175 m/s
With drag,
Final velocity at 1 m from point of explosion for fragments
with area 1cm2,
V = Voe-(CdAs/2m) (8)
V = 2137.14135 m/s
Minimum velocity for human survivability is 600 m/s, hence
the fragments are capable of neutralizing the target rendering
the airburst model of standard 40mm grenade to be highly
effective.
III. ELECTRONIC MODULES DESIGN AND
DEVELOPEMENT
The programmable Airburst Explosive modules basically
Figure 4. ANSYS Autodyne analysis of TNT explosion for 1meter constitutes 2 modules; a control module positioned on the
distance from point of detonation
grenade launcher unit and a trigger module placed within the
1) Survivability Chart grenade. The control module includes a targeting system used
Peak overpressure (from ConWep), Ps = 10.7 psi to range the distance to defilade, a control pad; to alter the
Ambient pressure, Po = 14.7 psi distance of explosion and display unit. An 8-bit
Scaled incident overpressure, microcontroller controls the control module operation. The
Ps = Ps/Po (5) trigger module in the grenade consists of another 8-bit
= 10.7/14.7 microcontroller. It receives the data from the launcher mount
Ps = 0.7 unit to calculate time of travel and set the triggering time for
The survivability chart (Figure 5) depicts the human survival explosion.
percent level for different scaled overpressure values [9]. The user targets the wall/cover (defilade) in front/behind
the enemy position. User input unit has following input
buttons on it.

Lock - For locking the distance to the

target.
Increase/Decrease To increase/decrease the
distance as required. (Corrected distance +/-)
Reset To reset/refresh the last locked distance.
Trigger - Connected to the launcher
trigger, it sends the fire command for trigger
module to start.

[Distance + (Corrected distance +/-)] data is processed in 8

Figure 5. Survivability Chart
The calculations indicate that the scaled overpressure value for
40mm airburst munitions is close to the threshold and the
survivability rate is 99% as derived from the chart. Hence, the
incident pressure alone is not capable of neutralizing the
target. Additionally, fragment velocity needs to be considered
to determine lethality of grenade fragments during airburst.
bit- controller on the launcher unit. It is then passed to the 8
bit controller in the grenade via contact band. On shooting the
grenade, signal from Atmega 32 is passed to Atmega 8
controller starting a timer. The muzzle velocity and the target
distance (corrected) are used to set the Timer for charge
ignition during flight towards the target. When the timer
reaches zero, the detonation fuse is triggered and explosion
occurs in midair. System working is as shown in Figure 6.

4

Figure 6. System operation
A. Control module
Control module for the PAES was made so that the user can
control the distance at which airburst takes place. An
ergonomic system design comprising of press buttons are
added for easy input options. A LCD display reminiscent of in-
scope display was also added for users convenience. IR
rangefinder of max distance 5 meter was used in place of
military grade laser rangefinder for the prototype. The IR range
values were scaled up to simulate laser rangefinder defilade
distance measurement. Figure 7 depicts the control module.
Figure 7. Control module
The Input panel consists of buttons for locking the distance to
target ranged by the rangefinder device, distance
addition/subtraction buttons, reset button and trigger button
for the gun trigger input. Distance addition/subtraction is
performed to increase or decrease the locked distance by one
meter, every time the button(s) is pressed.
LCD display shows the current distance to target, which varies
until locked. On locking, the range is fixed until the reset is
pressed. The locked distance can be altered using the control
5
panel. The distance is automatically sent to the grenade
module on locking and any reset overwrites the data.
B. Trigger module
Trigger Module comprises of a control part and a triggering
part. The control part includes Atmega8 microcontroller with
programming pins and interrupt/power pins. Data reception,
acknowledgement transfer along with calculations and timer
setting are performed by the controller part. The triggering part
consists of transistor based circuitry for triggering the fuse. It
consists of transistor, associated resistors and fuse as depicted
in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Trigger module
C. Power Sources
There are two power sources for the trigger module, one
for controller and another for the circuit. The first is a 7.4 V
25C high discharge Lithium-polymer battery for triggering the
fuse, while the second is a Super capacitor of 1F, 5.5V rating
with slow discharge for micro controller working.
Supercapacitors have very low charging time and high power
density [10].On controller triggering, the battery is discharged
at a high rate and may reset the controller if a single battery is
used, stopping the transistor triggering. So a secondary power
source (super capacitor) is used for the purpose.
IV. STATIC TESTING
A static test rig was made to test the data transfer and
acknowledgment. It uses another 8 bit controller for interrupt
trigger testing at the pre-set time can also be tested to ensure
operability of the modules. Static rig consists of contact
terminals for data transfer from control module to trigger
module. It also includes circuit for trigger testing along with
circuit to check transistor operability.
Figure 9. Static test rig
The trigger module was connected to the data transmission For 500ms (Figure 11), the current drops to 4.27 amperes. The
port on the static test rig. Control module was also attached to current is above threshold value but the triggering time is also
the rig and IR rangefinder was added to the prototype model. high.
The rangefinder was used to determine distance to a defilade
(a wall). Since the range of IR sensor is very low (5 metres),
the distance was scaled up to simulate a distance of 50 200
meters. The distance was locked and transmitted to the trigger
module. After firing simulation, the triggering time and final
velocity (including air resistance effect) was read from the
trigger module.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Trigger module results
Trigger module was tested in static rig for final velocity
including air resistance. The triggering time output from the
module at different distances are as tabulated in Table II.
Constant muzzle velocity of 76 m/s was taken for testing and
calculations. Muzzle velocity is the speed with which the
projectile leaves the launcher.
TABLE II
Distance Final Velocity Triggering time
(m) (m/s) (s)
50 71.0297 0.7039 Figure 11. Fuse current for 500ms triggering time (MJE3055T)
100 66.3844 1.5063
150 62.0428 2.4177 Figure 12 shows the maximum fuse current of 3.18 amperes
200 57.9853 3.4491 for time of triggering of 150ms. The current is well above
The output values for triggering time and final velocity are in the threshold value of 1.2 amperes and can be used in the
accordance with theoretical calculations. airburst munitions triggering module with MJE3055T
B. Trigger testing MOSFET.
Trigger testing at different triggering time periods was
performed for different transistors. 1.2 amperes is the threshold
current for triggering the explosive. The triggering time must
be minimal but the current must not fall below the threshold,
for efficient trigger initiation.
1) MJE3055T
Test results for MJE3055T MOSFET are as depicted in
Graphs (Figures 10- 13) below. Figure 10 shows the fuse
current during transistor triggering for 1000ms (or 1 second).
The value remains stationary at about 4.35 amperes for
successive readings; depicting very high probability of
initiation.

Figure 12. Fuse current for 150ms triggering time (MJE3055T)

Below 150ms, at 100ms (Figure 13) the current value

decreases below the threshold value, hence the fuse is not
triggered. The low current heats up the fuse wire to minimal
level, lower than the required heat to initiate the primary
explosive.

Figure 10. Fuse current for 1000ms triggering time (MJE3055T)

6
 Figure 13. Fuse current for 100ms triggering time (MJE3055T)
Figure 15. Fuse current for 500ms triggering time (IRF504)
2) IRF504 Transistor
Test results for IRF504 transistor are as depicted in Graphs Figure 16 shows the maximum fuse current of 4.93 amperes for
(Figures 14- 17) below. For 1 second (1000 ms) triggering triggering time of 100ms within the range of 1.3-5 amperes.
time, the maxumum fuse current is 5.91 amperes as shown in
Figure 14. The triggering time is too high to be used in airburst
munitions.

Figure 16. Fuse current for 100ms triggering time (IRF504)

Below 100ms, the fuse current drops below the threshold

current. The fuse remains uninitiated due to very low fuse wire
heat generation as shown in figure 17.
Figure 14. Fuse current for 1000ms triggering time (IRF504)

Figure 15 shows the maximum fuse current of 5.87 amperes for

triggering time of 500ms. The current range was detected to be
within 5-6 amperes for successive fuse current readings.

7

Figure 17. Fuse current for 50ms triggering time (IRF504)
Table III depicts the triggering time, avg. fuse current and
threshold current for the two transistors used in the trigger
module. The results depicts that IRF 504 transistor with
triggering time of 100ms and avg. fuse current of 3.033
amperes is best suited for trigger initiation in airburst
munitions for counter defilade.
TABLE III
Transistor Triggering time Avg. Fuse Threshold
(ms) Current current (Amps)
(Amperes)
MJE3055T 150 3.142 1.2
IRF504 100 3.033 1.2
C. Safety features
Safety features added in the design include software safety
and hardware safety. Software safety includes the arming of
grenade couple of meters (about 17 meters-20 meters) from
the firing point. This prevents the occurrences of accidental
explosions. The acknowledgement based data transfer
between the microcontrollers ensures the data transmission
and reception reliability between the control module on the
launcher and trigger module inside the munitions. Hardware
safety include connections to the fuse getting mechanically
armed after a certain distance by present arming mechanisms
to prevent any false trigger.
VI. CONCLUSION
Microcontroller based electronic modules for counter
defilade system has been designed, developed and tested
successfully. Airburst explosion was also analyzed to
determine the effect on target in defilade. The proposed design
doesnt include any muzzle velocity corrections required for
accurate triggering of explosive, as the final distance varies
with change in muzzle velocity of munitions used. Energy
sources can be varied to further reduce the weight and size of
the units in the system. The system operation under high g
conditions also requires further exploration.
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