Study on optimal safety and low-noise control for weapon launching from underwater vehicles

Objective  Low-speed launching of weapons from underwater vehicles can greatly reduce radiated noise. However, it may lead to collisions between the weapon leaving the launch tube and the moving vehicle if the launching velocity is too low. This paper develops an optimization model to determine the safe launch velocity, considering relevant parameters such as the vehicle’s attitude, speed and the lateral ocean current environment. The model enables immediate determination of the safe launch velocity based on real-time vehicle and environmental parameters, achieving optimal control over low-noise weapon launches.

Method  A novel method for weapon launch safety evaluation and analysis based on the danger point displacement envelope is proposed. Three data fitting techniques are employed to construct the weapon launch velocity optimization model using 175 working condition samples.

Results  The boundary spectrum and optimization model for safe weapon launch velocity are derived under conditions involving multi-influence factors and constraints. These conditions include vehicle pitch angles ranging from −5° to 5°, speeds of 0 to 4m/s, and lateral ocean current speeds from 0 to 2m/s. The study applies three fitting algorithms: multivariate polynomial fitting, polynomial response surface fitting and Kriging interpolation fitting. Among these, Kriging interpolation fitting is the most suitable for the construction of weapon safe launch velocity optimization model, with a fitting residual of 0.

Conclusion The speed of vehicle significantly impacts the safe launch velocity of the weapon only when there is a certain pitch angle. The lower limit of the safe velocity boundary spectrum is gradually affected with the increase of lateral current velocity, while the upper limit is gradually affected with the increase of the pitch angle of the vehicle.