he US Army is requesting the development of a ballistic shock-load resistant ElectroThermal-Ignition Pulsed Power Supply (ETIPPS) capable of withstanding up to 300 Gees of acceleration. This dynamic motion is sourced from the recoiling action of large caliber weapon systems (e.g. 120-140mm tank cannons) onto which the ETIPPS is to be mounted. The purpose of ETI is to produce a hot plasma jet required to ignite advanced solid chemical propellants. The advantages of ETI (vetted in 2004) include: improvement of projectile accuracy, lethality, range, and ignition consistency. The main disadvantages were size and weight. Previous ETIPPS systems proved to be too bulky for integration onto tactical ground combat vehicles. This solicitation is focused on reducing the ETIPPS footprint to harness the benefits that this technology can offer to future combat vehicles. IAP is proposing to shrink the size by designing a 20 kJ ETIPPS, which is a 5X reduction of energy from past systems. Additionally, we will study the feasibility of a pulsed power supply that is capable of withstanding high jerk environments. Proposal tasks include the development of a cost effective simulation tool that is able to determine survivability of internal structures and materials exposed to ballistic shock conditions.
