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A weapon system includes a cartridge and a fire control apparatus have been developed for generating a projectile with a selectable launch velocity. The cartridge includes multiple primers and propellant chambers which may be individually selected by the fire controller so as to fire the projectile

A weapon system includes a cartridge and a fire control apparatus have been developed for generating a projectile with a selectable launch velocity. The cartridge includes multiple primers and propellant chambers which may be individually selected by the fire controller so as to fire the projectile at a selected launch velocity. Additionally after firing the selected primers and propellant charges, the fire controller sends a second firing signal to all remaining primers after a suitable delay. The second firing signal ensures that all remaining propellant is initiated and consumed, thus rendering the cartridge safe to eject. The delay between the first firing signal and the second firing signal is sufficient to allow the projectile to be expelled from the cartridge so that the launch velocity is not affected by the combustion of the remaining propellant.

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1. A fire control apparatus for selectively initiating one or more of a plurality of primers in a cartridge comprising a plurality of primers, a plurality of electrical contacts comprising a plurality of concentric annular tracks of conductive material in a rear surface of a casing, a plurality of p

1. A fire control apparatus for selectively initiating one or more of a plurality of primers in a cartridge comprising a plurality of primers, a plurality of electrical contacts comprising a plurality of concentric annular tracks of conductive material in a rear surface of a casing, a plurality of propellant chambers and a projectile, wherein each primer is operatively connected to a propellant chamber and to one of the plurality of annular tracks to allow the projectile to be fired from the cartridge with a selectable launch velocity, the fire control apparatus comprising: a plurality of pins for electrical connection with the plurality of electrical contacts wherein each pin is aligned with one of the plurality of concentric tracks to allow the cartridge to be loaded in any orientation;a user interface comprising a trigger for generating a firing signal;a firing controller in electrical communication with the cartridge, wherein the firing controller is configured to generate one or more signals in response to a firing signal to select and initiate one or more of the plurality of primers in the cartridge, and after a time delay which is sufficient to allow the projectile to be expelled from the cartridge, generates a further one or more signals to initiate the remaining primers in the cartridge so as to render the cartridge safe, andwherein the firing controller further comprises a primer testing module for sending one or more signals for testing the status of each of the plurality of primers, and the primer testing module tests the status of all of the primers after generation of the further one or more signals to initiate the remaining primers, and the user interface comprises at least one indicator for indicating a safety status of cartridge after firing of the projectile, wherein if the primer test module indicates all primers have been initiated a safe status is indicated, and if not all of the primers have been initiated, then a hazard status is indicated to alert a user that the cartridge comprises unused propellant. 2. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface allows the user to select a firing mode, and the firing controller selects which of the plurality of primers to initiate from the selected firing mode. 3. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indicator is at least one LED indicator. 4. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises a selector for allowing a user to manually select a fire selection mode wherein the selection of the one or more primers is determined from the fire selection mode. 5. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a range finder for estimating the range to a target, and the firing controller selects which of the plurality of primers to be initiated in response to a firing signal using the estimated range to the target obtained from the range finder. 6. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fire controller further comprises a memory comprising a plurality of cartridge types, and communicates with the cartridge to receive a cartridge identifier determine the type of the cartridge, and selects which of the plurality of primers in the cartridge to be initiated in response to a firing signal from the determined cartridge type. 7. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fire control apparatus is adapted to be retrofitted to an existing weapon platform. 8. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the time delay is between 5 ms and 1 second. 9. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the time delay is at least 10 ms and 100 ms. 10. The fire control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of selected primers is more than one, and the selected primers are initiated in sequence, wherein each subsequent primer in the sequence is initiated a predefined primer initiation delay after initiation of the previous primer. 11. A method for firing a projectile with a selectable launch velocity from a cartridge and subsequently rendering safe the cartridge, the cartridge comprising a plurality of primers, a plurality of electrical contacts comprising a plurality of concentric annular tracks of conductive material in a rear surface of a casing, a plurality of propellant chambers and the projectile, wherein each primer is operatively connected to a respective propellant chamber and to one of the plurality of annular tracks to allow the projectile to be fired with the selected launch velocity, the method comprising: loading the cartridge in a barrel in any orientation;selecting one or more of the plurality of primers;initiating the selected one or more primers to fire the projectile;initiating, after a time delay, the remaining primers so as to initiate the remaining propellant in the cartridge and render the cartridge safe; andtesting each of the primers after initiating the remaining primers to determine if each of the primers is in an open circuit state, and indicating to the user the safety status of the cartridge, wherein if all primers are in an open circuit state a safe status is indicated, otherwise an unsafe status is indicated. 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the time delay is determined so that the launch velocity of the projectile is unaffected by initiation of the remaining propellant charges. 13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the time delay is between 5 ms and 1 second. 14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the time delay is between 10 ms and 100 ms. 15. A weapon system for firing a projectile with a selectable launch velocity, the weapon comprising: a barrel for receiving a cartridge loaded in any orientation, the cartridge comprising:a casing;a plurality of propellant chambers located within the casing;a plurality of primers, each primer operatively connected with one of the plurality of propellant chambers for initiating the propellant in the respective chamber;a plurality of electrical contacts comprising a plurality of concentric annular tracks of conductive material in a rear surface of the casing wherein each of the plurality of annular tracks is connected to one of the plurality of primers;a projectile located in a forward end of the casing;a cavity formed between the forward end of each of the plurality of propellant chambers and the rear of the projectile to receive the propellant gases from one or more of the plurality of propellant chambers to fire the projectile from the casing; anda primer interface module located in a rear end of the casing for selectively initiating one or more of the plurality of primers to fire the projectile from the casing, and wherein in use, after firing the projectile from the casing, the remaining primers are initiated after a delay to initiate the remaining propellant in the cartridge and render the cartridge safe, anda firing control apparatus comprising:a plurality of pins for electrical connection with the plurality of electrical contacts wherein each pin is aligned with one of the plurality of concentric tracks to allow the cartridge to be loaded in any orientation;a user interface comprising a trigger for generating a firing signal; anda firing controller in electrical communication with the cartridge, wherein the firing controller is configured to generate one or more signals in response to a firing signal to select and initiate one or more of the plurality of primers in the cartridge, and after a time delay which is sufficient to allow the projectile to be expelled from the cartridge, generates a further one or more signals to initiate the remaining primers in the cartridge so as to render the cartridge safe; andwherein the firing controller further comprises a primer testing module for sending one or more signals for testing the status of each of the plurality of primers, and the primer testing module tests the status of all of the primers after generation of the further one or more signals to initiate the remaining primers, and the user interface comprises at least one indicator for indicating a safety status of cartridge after firing of the projectile, wherein if the primer test module indicates all primers have been initiated a safe status is indicated, and if not all of the primers have been initiated, then a hazard status is indicated to alert a user that the cartridge comprises unused propellant. 16. The weapon system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the forward end of each of the propellant chambers further comprises a selectively rupturable seal for sealing the end of the respective propellant chamber from the cavity, wherein if primer is selectively initiated and initiates propellant in the associated chamber, the associated seal ruptures to release propellant gas into the cavity, and a primer is not selectively initiated, the associated seal is resistant to rupturing due to the presence of propellant gas in the cavity from propellant chambers which were selectively initiated. 17. The weapon system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the primer interface module comprises a cartridge identifier to allow the firing controller to determine the type of the cartridge.