SBIR-STTR Award

An azimuth orienting system is proposed for indirect fire towedartillery and mortar weapon systems based on an enhancement of existingfiber optic gyroscope (FOG) technology configured into a north findersystem. The north finder in operation would use its FOG rate sensor(s) todetermine the Earth's rotation vector in a local horizontal plane. Thedirection of the vector in this plane points to true north. This technologyprovides a direct true north orientation which is independent of weather,blockage, and jamming, an advantage which other technologies such asmagnetic compass and GPS cannot claim. The Phase I effort will define abaseline specification for a north finder based on FOG technology and theweapon system requirements, determine the optimal configuration of a northfinder system, determine methods for coupling the reference orientation tothe weapon system, and demonstrate the feasibility of extending theexisting technology performance, in both FOG sensors and FOG based northfinders, to meet the accuracy/time requirements of the weapon systemapplication.

An azimuth orienting system is proposed for indirect fire towed artillery and mortar weapon systems based on an enhancement of existing fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) technology configured into a north finder system. The north finder in operation would use its FOG rate sensor(s) to determine the Earth's rotation vector in a local horizontal plane. The direction of the vector in this plane points to true north. This technology provides a direct true north orientation which is independent of weather, blockage and jamming, an advantage which other technologies such as magnetic compass and GPS cannot claim. The Phase II effort will develop four prototype north finder units for field testing on artillary. These units will either be configured for use entirely on howitzers or two units will be for howitzers and two units will be for large mortars. Laboratory and field testing of these units will validate the computed performance of +/- mil north accuracy in two minutes for howitzers and +/- 6.2 mil accuracy in two minutes for large mortars, at latitudes up to 60 degrees from the equator.