Precision Strike Concepts Exploiting Relative GPS Techniques

George Schmidt, and Roy Setterlund

Abstract:	Many future weapons and weapon carriers are ex- pected to have an avionics suite that includes an integrated INS/GPS set. This relatively inexpensive means of naviga- tion motivates examination of whether very high accuracy (- 3 meter CEP) may be obtainable using only this set of weapon avionics operating in either a relative or differential GPS mode. This paper will present several different weapon system concepts that exploit such a capability to attack both fixed and stationary (but mobile) targets. The paper will also address the theory behind each concept which enables the high accuracy and discusses the assumptions relating to each technique. Simulation results will also be presented which will provide an assessment of the expected accuracy of selected key concepts. Concepts that will be explained include the use of aircraft equipped with an INS/GPS/SAR avionics suite to perform a real-time relative targeting function for weapon initialization. The importance of reasonable aircraft maneu- vers to enhance observability and speed up the three-dimen- sional (3-D) targeting fire control solution will also be addressed. Simulation results for several realistic scenarios will be presented. Next, several concepts will be discussed that all make use of highly accurate pre-mission relative target positioning, i.e., the ability to specify the 3-D location of two points, or localized areas, on the earth relative to each other in a suitable reference frame such as WGS-84. An assump- tion will be made that such a capability is achievable, and it is of interest to speculate how such a capability could be exploited in a precision strike context. Scenarios involving bombers,cruisemissiles(e.g.,Tomahawk,ALCM,TSSAM), conventional SLBM’s and ICBM’s, tactical missiles (JDAM, JSOW, ER-ATACMS) will be described, as well as con- cepts that would permit strikes on stationary (yet mobile) targets.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 49th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1993) June 21 - 23, 1993 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	175 - 182
Cite this article:	Updated citation: Published in NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation
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