B-2 GPS Aided Munition and Targeting System

Anthony S. Abbott, Douglas E. Atkinson

Abstract:	Northrop Grumman, in conjunction with Hughes Aircraft and the U. S. Air Force, has developed an integrated precision strike system for the B-2 consisting of a GPS Aided Targeting System (GATS) and a GPS/Inertial Aided Munition (GAM). The paper explains how B-2 navigation data is used with range and range rate data from a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to perform highly-accurate targeting and how GPS relative navigation techniques are employed to achieve high impact accuracies with a conventional Mark 84 munition equipped with a GPS/Inertial tailkit. This paper describes the synergism required between various B-2 subsystems and the methods to control the important error sources to obtain the maximum accuracy of the integrated system. Of particular interest are the methods used to exploit the maximum relative GPS navigation accuracy by controlling the operation of the B-2’s navigation and radar subsystems and the GAM’s GPS receiver. The well-planned development and flight test program of this system has confirmed the expected operation and performance of each subsystem element. This paper describes some important aspects of the test program, the significant findings from the test data as well as the adjustments made to the system design to optimize performance. The resulting system design defines an all-weather, integrated, precision strike capability for the B-2 with conventional weapons. The B-2’s mission planning, navigation, SAR targeting, and flight/stores management as well as the munition’s initialization, guidance, control and navigation algorithms can be used as models for the next generation of GPS-guided munitions and targeting systems.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 14 - 16, 1997 Loews Santa Monica Hotel Santa Monica, CA
Pages:	779 - 791
Cite this article:	Abbott, Anthony S., Atkinson, Douglas E., "B-2 GPS Aided Munition and Targeting System," Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Santa Monica, CA, January 1997, pp. 779-791.
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