ATK Achieves 20-Meter Accuracy In Guided Projectile Flight Test

SPACEWAR

ever more uses for waging war

Minneapolis - Oct 03, 2003
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has announced that a U. S. Navy-industry team achieved unprecedented results in the multi-service pursuit of long-range precision gunnery. On Sept. 24, at the White Sands Missile Range (WMSR) in New Mexico, two Autonomous Naval Support Rounds (ANSR) flew more than 61 miles (54 nautical miles) in less than three minutes.

Using inputs from up to nine GPS satellites, the projectiles guided to within 20 meters of their designated targets. The objectives for each test were fully satisfied as were all the system performance objectives established for the 17-month Ballistic Trajectory Extended Range Munition (BTERM) technology demonstration program.

Significantly, these groundbreaking results were obtained from a representative standard 5-inch naval gun widely available throughout the U.S. fleet and within allied navies. Target range for the demonstration was limited by WMSR safety restrictions.

Guidance for ANSR's ballistic trajectory approach, which differs from the boost-glide trajectory used in other precision projectile programs, was provided by the Low-Cost Guidance Electronics Unit (LCGEU), a Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) guidance system developed for the Navy and modified for ANSR/BTERM by The C.S. Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass.

ATK Missile Systems Company, Woodland Hills, Calif. Together with its Guided Projectile division at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) in Rocket Center, W.Va., is responsible for ANSR system integration and the projectile's solid propellant rocket motor. Other members of the

BTERM demonstration team are The C.S. Draper Laboratory (prime contractor, guidance electronics and navigation), and Custom Analytical Engineering Systems (CAES), Cumberland, Md, (propulsion design, airframe and control actuation).

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B-2 Bomber's Ability To Deliver "Smart" Weapons Enhanced

El Segundo - Oct 02, 2003
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector and the U.S. Air Force have successfully demonstrated the operation of a new smart bomb rack assembly (SBRA) that increases the B-2 stealth bomber's capacity to deliver smart (GPS-guided) weapons by a factor of five.

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