Orbital ATK to build add-on kits to convert artillery shells into GPS-guided smart munitions
PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. – U.S. Army explosives experts are looking to Orbital ATK Inc. to provide precision-guidance kits to transform conventional 155-millimeter artillery shells into GPS-guidedsmart munitions.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., announced a $69.6 million order Monday to the Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Orbital ATK Inc. in Plymouth, Minn., for 8,001 M1156 precision guidance kits for the Army and U.S. Marine Corps.
Orbital ATK’s precision guidance kit (PGK) transforms existing 155-millimeter high-explosive artillery projectiles into affordable satellite-guided precision weapons.
The PGK uses signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide artillery projectiles to their targets with accuracy of less than 10 meters.
The low-cost reliable, fuze-sized guidance kit installs in the artillery shell's fuze well and also provides traditional fuze functions for height-of-burst and point detonation, Orbital ATK officials say.
PGK provides maneuver forces with an organic precision capability that works in all weather conditions, and fills a gap between conventional artillery and smart munitions capabilities.
On this contract modification Orbital ATK will do the work in Plymouth, Minn., and should be finished by January 2020. For more information contact Orbital ATK online at www.orbitalatk.com, or the Army Contracting Command at www.acc.army.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
