US Patent Issued to Orbital Research on July 1 for "Projectile control actuation system and method of steering a projectile" (Alabama, Connecticut, Ohio Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,345,513, issued on July 1, was assigned to Orbital Research Inc. (Cleveland).

"Projectile control actuation system and method of steering a projectile" was invented by Zak Sowle (Bellbrook, Ohio), Srikanth Vasudevan (Monroe, Conn.) and Matthew C. Birch (Madison, Ala.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A projectile incorporates one or more spoiler-tabbed spinning disks to effect flow around the projectile and thus impart steering forces and/or moments. The spoiler tabs may be deployed only during steering phases of travel thus minimizing the drag penalty associated with steering systems. The disks are driven by motors and informed and controll...