Orbital ATK will help turn conventional artillery shells into smart shells, according to a report in Defense News. Under a $120 million Army contract modification, the company will make kits to enable the conversion.
The Army’s goal is to limit civilian casualties and collateral damage, which will allow the use of artillery where it would have otherwise not been wise, such as near a crowded population center or friendly forces.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2016, following low-rate initial production, which began in January.
ATK, which has since merged with Orbital, first earned the technology demonstration contract in 2006. The mission was to develop the XM1156 precision guidance kit (PGK) for the 155mm howitzer artillery system. In 2013, it won a $58 million contract, with a base requirement and two options for a year of full-rate production; the recent award was option one.
“The goal was to try to design a fuze that would also provide guidance that would just drop into the existing inventory because the Army has millions of rounds,” said Tim Jones, PGK program manager for Orbital ATK. “To build new rounds — and there are programs like that — are very expensive, more than 10 times what PGK would cost.”
The device fits into the 155mm Howitzer shell’s fuze well, and uses GPS and small fins to adjust trajectory as the shell flies toward its target.
Read the full report at DefenseNews.com.
