proximity fuze

An electronic device for detonating a warhead as it approaches a target, used in antiaircraft shells. Also called VT fuze.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

proxim′ity fuze`

a device for detonating a charge, as in a projectile, within a predesignated radius of a target.

[1940–45]

proximity fuze

A fuze wherein primary initiation occurs by remotely sensing the presence, distance, and/or direction of a target or its associated environment by means of a signal generated by the fuze or emitted by the target, or by detecting a disturbance of a natural field surrounding the target.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

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References in periodicals archive

This order, which was signed in 2012, has a total value of SEK11.2m and comprises of production and delivery of MAPAM 60mm ER (extended range) with proximity fuze and MAPAM 81mm standard configuration.

Saab Switzerlanda[euro](tm)s MAPAM awarded two contracts for SEK11.2m

The QW-1G (later re-designated QW-11) has a proximity fuze. The QW-1M incorporates improvements from the later Igla.

Last ditch air-defence: the ultimate umbrella: originally intended to safeguard forward troops from direct attacks by low-flying aircraft, very-short-range air-defence (V-Shorad) guided missiles are being developed into high-lethality systems to protect ground and naval units, against not only aircraft, but also cruise missiles, reconnaissance and attack drones and air-launched tactical weapons, including precision-guided bombs

As Professors Haynes and Klehr remarked, when Rosenberg was employed on a classified military project at Emerson Radio, he "achieved a singular espionage coup, stealing a working sample of the proximity fuze, one of the most innovative advances of American military technology in World War II." The 2001 memoirs of Julius' KGB case officer Aleksandr Feklisov--entitled The Man Behind the Rosenbergs--describe some 50 occasions when Julius passed along secrets for Stalinist Moscow.

Lies about red spies

In addition, the ammunition is equipped with a new programmable microwave proximity fuze for the 2.5-kg warhead, anticipating the detonation point as function of the miss distance.

Italy readies advanced naval gun system

Russia's Bryansk Electromechanical Plant is reportedly marketing the new SPR-2 proximity fuze jamming system.

Russia Markets Fuze Jammer

But the SA-11 is a member of a class of weapon that carries a fragmenting warhead with a proximity fuze. If a missile like that functioned as designed, it would cause damage like that evident in the debris of Flight 17.

Malaysia flight MH17 jet wreckage bears signs of impact by supersonic missile

Along with the other changes, a new proximity fuze has been introduced: a dual-mode type with radar and IR sensors.

On September 4, BAE Systems conducted its first successful test firing of the improved Seawolf Block 2 missile

When used with a Fuchs Electronics proximity fuze set to function at a pre-selected height above the target surface, the resulting combination of body fragments and steel spheres can cover a lethal area of about 2000 metres.

More bang for your buck--warhead technology

* A new 9M31 IM missile (replacing the 9M311) with a range increased from 8 to 10 km and possessing a new radar proximity fuze in place of a laser proximity fuze, which increases the kill probability against cruise missiles

The KBP Shipunov research center (Tula, Russia) and the Izhevski Electromechanical Plant Kupol (Izhevsk, Russia). (Missile Editor)