Rear ejection impact marking ammunition assembly

Abstract

An ammunition assembly comprising a body having an interior chamber between leading and trailing ends, and a nose portion is attached to the leading end. An ejectable payload is disposed in the chamber. An ejectable payload is disposed in the marking chamber. A pusher, adjacent to the nose and interior chamber, is axially moveable into the interior chamber to push the payload rearwardly out of the body's trailing end. An aft cover is connected to the trailing end and retains the payload in the body until the nose impacts a target. The aft cover is separable from the body when the pusher ejects the payload out the trailing end portion when the nose impacts the target so the ejected payload marks the target without being obscured by the body or the target after impact.

I/We claim: 
     
         1 . A target-marking ammunition assembly fireable from a firing system toward a target, comprising:
 a tubular body having a marking chamber disposed between opposing leading and trailing end portions, the trailing end portion having an opening therein in communication with the marking chamber;   a nose ogive attached to the leading end portion of the tubular body, a pusher disposed in the nose ogive and at least partially adjacent to the marking chamber the pusher being axially moveable relative to the tubular body's trailing end portion;   a signature material disposed in the marking chamber; and   an aft cover member connected to the trailing end portion of the tubular body, the cover having an aperture therein in communication with the marking chamber and positioned to contain the signature material in the marking chamber until impact;   wherein the pusher is axially movable toward the trailing end portion and at least partially into the marking chamber to eject the signature marker from the marking chamber through the trailing end portion when the nose ogive impacts the target, and wherein the signature material is configured to mark the target upon ejection from the marking chamber after the nose ogive and pusher impact the target.   
     
     
         2 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the aft cover is separable from the trailing end portion of the tubular body, and configured to be separated rearwardly from the tubular body upon ejection of the signature material via the pusher. 
     
     
         3 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a crushable ampoule disposed in the marking chamber, at least a portion of the signature material being contained in the ampoule. 
     
     
         4 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the aft cover has a stepped-hat configuration with a first portion disposed partially exterior of the body, and having a second portion that fits into and is at least partially disposed in the marking chamber immediately adjacent to the ampoule. 
     
     
         5 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising driving bands connected to the body. 
     
     
         6 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the nose ogive includes a thin-walled, streamlined windscreen that defines a forward nose of the ammunition assembly. 
     
     
         7 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a case, and the tubular body, the signature material, the nose ogive, and the pusher define a projectile seperably attached to the case, and configured to travel along a trajectory path to the target. 
     
     
         8 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the signature material is a powdered dye material. 
     
     
         9 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the signature material is a chemiluminescent material. 
     
     
         10 . A target-marking ammunition assembly, comprising:
 a tubular body having an interior chamber disposed between opposing leading and trailing end portions;   an ejectable payload disposed in the interior chamber;   a nose portion attached to the leading end portion of the body;   a pusher adjacent to the nose and the leading end portion of the body, at least a portion of the pusher is adjacent to the interior chamber and is being axially moveable relative to the interior chamber and the body's trailing end portion to push the payload rearwardly away from the nose; and   an aft cover member connected to the trailing end portion of the tubular body and configured to retain the payload in the body until the nose portion impacts a target, at least a portion of the aft cover being separable from the body when the pusher pushes the payload rearwardly away from the nose;   wherein the pusher is axially movable toward the trailing end portion and at least partially into the marking chamber to eject the payload from the interior out the trailing end portion when the nose impacts the target, and wherein the payload ejected from the trailing end portion is configured to mark the target without being obscured by the body or the portions of the target after impact.   
     
     
         11 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , further comprising a crushable ampoule disposed in the interior chamber, at least a portion of the payload being contained in the ampoule. 
     
     
         12 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 11 , wherein a portion of the aft cover is disposed in the interior chamber immediately adjacent to the ampoule. 
     
     
         13 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the nose includes a thin-walled, streamlined windscreen that defines a forward nose of the ammunition assembly configured to first impact the target. 
     
     
         14 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the body, the payload, the nose, and the pusher define a projectile configured to travel along a trajectory path to the target. 
     
     
         15 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the payload is at least one of a signature-effect material, a chemiluminescent material, an energetic material, a gas generating material, or an ignition material. 
     
     
         16 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the aft cover comprises a window portion that provides visibility from the rear of the body to the payload in the interior chamber. 
     
     
         17 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the payload is configured as a tracer function prior to target impact and as an impact marker after impact. 
     
     
         18 . A target-marking ammunition assembly fireable from a firing device, at least a portion of the target-marking assembly configured to travel along a trajectory path to a target, comprising:
 A body having an interior chamber disposed between opposing leading and trailing end portions;   An ejectable payload disposed in the marking chamber, at least a portion of the payload being a tracer element configured to emit a traceable signature from behind the body during travel along the trajectory;   A nose portion coupled to the leading end portion of the body;   A pusher adjacent to the leading end portion of the body, at least a portion of the pusher being adjacent to the interior chamber and being axially moveable relative to the interior chamber and the body's trailing end portion to eject the payload rearwardly through the body's trailing end portion to mark the target without the ejected payload being obscured by the body or the portions of the target after impact; and   An aft cover member connected to the trailing end portion of the tubular body and configured to retain the payload in the body until the nose portion impacts a target, the aft cover member having a window portion that provides visibility from the rear of the body to the payload in the interior chamber during travel along the trajectory.   
     
     
         19 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the aft cover is separable from the trailing end portion of the body, and configured to be separated rearwardly from the body upon ejection of the payload via the pusher. 
     
     
         20 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18 , further comprising a crushable ampoule disposed in the marking chamber, at least a portion of the payload being contained in the ampoule. 
     
     
         21 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 20 , wherein the aft cover has a stepped-hat configuration with a first portion disposed partially exterior of the body, and having a second portion that fits into and is at least partially disposed in the interior chamber adjacent to the ampoule. 
     
     
         22 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18  wherein the payload includes a powdered dye material. 
     
     
         23 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the payload includes chemiluminescent material activateable to provide visible light during the travel along the trajectory. 
     
     
         24 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the payload is configured to generate light in a visible spectrum during travel along the trajectory. 
     
     
         25 . The ammunition assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the payload is configured to generate infrared light during travel along the trajectory.