SEMI STABLE FLIGHT OF SUPERSONIC MORTAR PROJECTILE
Significantly large dispersion of projectiles was observed at firing a specific type of a supersonic mortar projectile being devel-oped in the frame of RAK ANUNICJA program. The flying paths, parameters and reasons of falling points dispersion were determined for tested projectiles with a model of external ballistics describing the projectile as a rigid body. Analysis of received results has indicated that the dispersion was not caused by an aerodynamic jump but by an effect which has not been described yet in the literature and is named here as “projectile’s semi-stable flight”. The paper includes a description of the effect with reasons and parameters affecting its occurrence, and a method for determination of the equilibrium nutation angle which plays a key role in this effect.