Raytheon , TUCSON: Raytheon Company successfully completed a gun firing test of its low-cost XM1156 Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) solution at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., March 16. The test firing, shot from the Picatinny Ballistic Rail Gun System, met all test objectives.
PGK is a competitive U.S. Army program designed to demonstrate the ability to significantly improve the accuracy of existing ballistic and cargo 155 and 105 mm artillery rounds through the addition of a low-cost, GPS guided fuze kit, which integrates into the round's shallow fuze well without modification. The Raytheon PGK was also designed to meet Army program requirements through a low-cost airbrake solution having minimal impact on round stability. Raytheon's solution focuses on meeting the PGK requirements at the lowest cost with the capability for incremental growth.
“The Spearhead 1D course correcting fuze (CCF) demonstration was a significant milestone for the team,” said Ken Pedersen, Raytheon Missile Systems' Advanced Programs vice president. “A low-cost, networked, 1D CCF solution would provide the Army with improved 155/105 mm round accuracy, reduced collateral damage, and lower ammunition sustainment and replenishment costs.”
Raytheon's Missile Systems business in Tucson, Ariz., will serve as prime systems integrator, airframe designer, and guidance and control authority, utilizing L3 KDI Precision Products, Inc., to produce the all-up “smart fuze” kit at its automated fuze factory in Cincinnati, Ohio. KDI's proven experience with manufacturing more than 215,000 MOFA (Multi-Option Fuze for Artillery) fuzes for the U.S. Army will help ensure a low production cost for PGK. The Spearhead flight tests will culminate in closed loop, GPS-guided, fully integrated round testing through April 2006 at “tactically significant” ranges.
Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.
Background Notes and Information:
Raytheon's PGK design leverages production and flight proven subassemblies and an all-up kit that borrows heavily from M782 Multi-Option Fuze for Artillery (MOFA) and the Navy Guidance Integrated Fuze program. Hardware tests and six degrees of freedom simulation analysis indicate the Raytheon solution will meet the Army's PGK circular error probable requirement for both 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds.
The PGK successfully survived approximately 8,000 Gs (x gravity), the equivalent of a Modular Artillery Charge System 4 firing and the safety maximum given the mass of the test round. The PGK guidance electronics unit (GEU) successfully deployed the airbrake assembly immediately after muzzle exit. This live fire test culminates hardware-in-the-loop testing, 270 Hz laboratory deployment spin tests, 300 Hz live gun fire structural tests and integrated GEU rail-gun testing to 11,000 Gs.
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