Simplified Survey System

G.S. Graham, J.W. Smith, and K. R. Peake

Abstract:	Artillery surveying has a long history. In the beginning most engagements were line of sight, requiring little in the way of precise positioning, instead relying on a keen eye. During the late 19th century, artillery technology evolved dramatically, resulting in ever increasing ranges and improved accuracy. Artillery was no longer just a line of sight weapon. By World War I, artillery performance had improved to the point that survey accuracy was a major contributor to overall system accuracy. Spotters were used to overcome initial survey inaccuracy by providing feedback to the fire units in order to “walk” the fire on target. Fast forward to the 21st century, missiles routinely are used in place of artillery, especially with regard to Air Defense Artillery (ADA). These missiles often cost in excess of one million dollars and are of such range as to necessitate accurate initial survey. In the case of ADA (i.e. PATRIOT), initial survey accuracy is critical for its own fire missions and for the receipt and handing off of targets to other ADA systems and sensors. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was a hard sell to the Army in the late 1980s. PATRIOT was in the development phase of GPS integration when the first Gulf war unfolded. After the war, GPS was an easy sell to the Army. They had firsthand experience with commercial GPS receivers in the trackless desert. PATRIOT initially fielded a true first generation GPS receiver, the VSN-8 Manpack. The Manpack was an integration challenge, not having been designed for integration, but was being provided by the GPS Joint Program Office (JPO) at no cost to PATRIOT. The Manpack along with an inertial based North Finding System (NFS) assumed the survey role within PATRIOT. After partial fielding of the Manpack, it was replaced with the smaller, less expensive Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR). PATRIOT is not alone; most artillery survey has been automated, with many systems relying on GPS for precise positioning. This increased reliance on GPS has raised concerns regarding the intentional, hostile denial of GPS service. With this in mind, PATRIOT has determined to upgrade its inertial survey capability with the development of the Simplified Survey System (S3). S3 will be used as a backup in the event the GPS service is not available. The S3 integration was performed at the RDECOM’s Prototype Integration Facility (PIF). Other development team members include NTA Inc. and CAS Inc. This paper details the field test results of the S3.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2004 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 26 - 28, 2004 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	585 - 588
Cite this article:	Graham, G.S., Smith, J.W., Peake, K. R., "Simplified Survey System," Proceedings of the 2004 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2004, pp. 585-588.
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