ATK [ATK] Aug. 11 announced it successfully demonstrated the ability to divert a 105mm artillery round using its existing 155mm Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) with minimal modification to the current design.
ATK recently conducted tests of the PGK on M927 rounds at Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Ariz. The tests verified that the ATK-designed PGK provides more than twice the control authority necessary to meet 105mm performance requirements.
The company funded the tests to demonstrate the robust design capability of the PGK.
Already proven on the 155mm Howitzer, the 105mm PGK incorporates 99 percent of the existing 155mm PGK design. The only difference is a single mechanical part, the company said in a statement.
“The simplicity of the PGK design, its demonstrated performance and affordability makes it very attractive for any spin-stabilized projectile,” Bryce Hallowell, ATK vice president, corporate communications, told Defense Daily.
This approach maximizes the Army’s investment in this technology. The high degree of commonality provides a low-risk approach that significantly reduces development and qualification costs, as well as the schedule to field a 105mm PGK. This commonality allows for a near-term affordable transformation of existing 105mm artillery rounds into precision weapons that improve combat effectiveness while reducing the potential for collateral damage.
ATK competed for and won the system design and development (SDD) contract for the 155mm PGK in May 2007. In May, ATK and the Army conducted a successful series of flight tests of the 155mm Howitzer PGK at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. The 155mm critical design review is scheduled for completion within 30 days.
ATK recently conducted tests of the PGK on M927 rounds at Yuma. The tests verified that the ATK-designed PGK provides more than twice the control authority necessary to meet 105mm performance requirements.
PGK is a low-cost, fuze-sized guidance kit intended to replace NATO standard height-of-burst, and point detonation fuzes. The kit improves projectile accuracy by coupling global positioning system (GPS) technology with ATK’s fixed canard guidance system. The GPS technology provides location and time during flight and ATK’s unique guidance, navigation, and control approach determines trajectory and makes in-flight corrections to the target.