Army asks Northrop Grumman 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 Northrop Grumman Corp. to provide precision-guidance kits to transform conventional 155-millimeter artillery shells into GPS-guided smart munitions.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., announced a $17 million order last week to The Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems segment (formerly Orbital ATK) in Plymouth, Minn., for M1156 precision guidance kits for the Army.
Northrop Grumman’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 shells 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, Northrop Grumman 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 Northrop Grumman will do the work in Plymouth, Minn., and should be finished by June 2024. For more information contact Northrop Grumman online at www.northropgrumman.com, or the Army Contracting Command New Jersey at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-nj.
