FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to countermeasures against guided or unguided hostile projectile attacks, such as torpedoes, and more particularly to a primary countermeasure device from which a plurality of tow projectiles that each tow a line or support structure are deployed, the lines carrying any of a plurality of sensor arrays, explosive charges or radiating countermeasures for disrupting or destroying such hostile projectiles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Defensive systems and countermeasures are critical to the survival of military and possibly to other ocean-going surface and subsurface platforms such as oil wells, drilling platforms and others. Current and future threats, such as from torpedoes, underwater rockets, mines and so forth have, and will have the ability to counter many defensive countermeasure systems that are deployed by surface and subsurface vehicles. Though there have been a multitude of systems designed to counter torpedoes over the years, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,195,042, 3,875,844, and others, most, if not all, of these countermeasure systems are outdated with respect to current threats. The speed and sophistication of current torpedoes make most of the past anti-torpedo systems obsolete as most systems that use sensors to counter an underwater threat, such as Hagelberg and Lobitz's anti-ship torpedo defense missile (U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,630) can be countered in turn by countermeasure systems onboard a torpedo. This is relevant where a threat countermeasures such as in Hagelberg and Lobitz uses active sonar that can be detected by an oncoming threat. In addition, since a wake homing torpedo follows a zigzag path through the wake of a fleeing vessel, there is no assurance that such an oncoming threat will encounter or come sufficiently close to the explosive device of Hagelberg and Lobitz, which has a destructive range of only about 20 feet. Other counter threat systems, such as Lavan's (U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,109) and Longerich (U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,595) do deploy a solid anti-torpedo object (net) to interfere with a threat torpedo but would be slow to deploy since they have no means of assistance to spread the net to its full deployment width. This is critical when going up against current supercavitating torpedoes that can travel in excess of 200 knots (about 220 miles per hour), which will cover a range of 10 miles in about 2.75 minutes or less, and may simply penetrate a net due to their mass and speed. Systems that deploy nets will also cause significant damage to sea-life as well as other friendly surface and subsurface vehicles. Another deficit of large nets are that they are heavy and require larger and more powerful delivery vehicles. The current invention overcomes these shortcomings by having embodiments that rapidly deploy an array or field of lines that may carry explosives, sensors or other elements to form a partially physical barrier that can counter fast moving underwater threats such as torpedoes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a ballistically delivered anti-torpedo, projectile and underwater vehicle countermeasures apparatus can be launched from an air vehicle, surface vehicle or sub-surface vehicle. The device includes one or more neutrally buoyant, generally spherical communications and control orb-shaped devices designed to be released by a propulsion and delivery vehicle in the path of an incoming underwater threat, and after being deployed, the orb/orbs each deploy line deployment mechanisms, which in some embodiments may be miniature propulsion devices, such as microrockets or engine/screw propulsion devices, each such device towing a respective line attached to the orb so that the lines generally fill a spherical volume or plane around a respective orb. In some embodiments, at least some of the lines incorporate stiffeners to assist in maintaining the lines position and orientations in the water The extended lines may be equipped with or have attached thereto counter-torpedo sensors, antenna, transducers, explosives or other means to destroy, disable or jam sensors of an incoming torpedo, mine or other threat. Once a countermeasures orb has been deployed and is in its operational state with all of its lines extended, the orb with extended lines may passively wait for the presence of the threat or use transducers for broadcasting countermeasures. The system may also detect changes or signatures in the water indicative of an approaching threat, such as magnetic changes, rapid change in temperature, rapid change in surrounding water pressure, and changes of sound, or acoustic signatures, in a vicinity of the orb or within the spherical volume defined by the lines. In some embodiments, once the orb detects an anomaly associated with a threat, as by acoustic detection, the orb and its lines may initially, while the threat is at a longer range but within range of the orb's sensors, emit jamming or countermeasures signals such as strong electromagnetic signals, such as from an electrical current source, electrical signals or acoustic or other submarine signatures to disable or fool homing circuitry and serve as a decoy to interfere with communications of a wire guided torpedo. As the torpedo enters a volume defined by the lines extending from an orb, the orb may cause the lines to emit strong electrical potentials or currents to disable or destroy sensors of the torpedo, or in some embodiments the orb and sensor lines would explode when a torpedo is just outside or within the volume defined by the lines. As should be apparent, multiple orbs may be deployed in front of an unknown incoming torpedo or similar threat, each having the same or different countermeasure functions and configured to work separately, or several orbs may be networked to function together as a neural net. Some embodiments of this invention could incorporate guidance systems to guide countermeasure orbs to a specific location in front of a threat. Other embodiments employed as sensor systems would simply go a preset distance or to a predetermined location and wait to detect signals. Additional embodiments could also use the propulsion and delivery system to deliver multiple payloads, such as jammers, threat monitors, surveillance sensors, and mines. A self-destruct mechanism may be employed that is time delayed so as to not leave a destructive payload operational indefinitely. One embodiment of the invention could be used for satellite countermeasure protection in space to counter anti-satellite missiles or similar projectiles. Similarly, military aircraft may use a similar defensive embodiment at very short range such as when an air-to-air missile is about to strike an aircraft.

