Northrop Grumman has demonstrated a simplified method of engaging moving targets as a company-funded extension of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's affordable moving surface target engagement (AMSTE) project.
Road-aided tracking would make AMSTE capability simpler and cheaper to implement.
Whereas previous AMSTE demonstrations have used two airborne ground moving-target indication (GMTI) radars networked to provide continuous, precise target geolocation updates to a seekerless precision-guided weapon, the latest test used only one radar and satellite images of the road on which the target was travelling.
The test, at Eglin AFB, Florida, involved a single US Air Force Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) providing target data to a USAF Lockheed Martin F-16 carrying an inert 900kg (1,980lb) Boeing JDAM GPS-guided munition equipped with a guidance-update datalink.
To eliminate the need for a second radar to geolocate the target using multi-lateration, the JSTARS combined its GMTI radar with the Northrop Grumman-developed Raindrop targeting system. Raindrop geolocates fixed targets using stereo satellite images and is used by the USAF to generate target co-ordinates for JDAM.
In the test, the Raindrop software was used to geolocate the road along which the target was moving. The aircraft's GMTI radar was then used to track the vehicle, travelling at 37km/h (20kt).
The targeting data generated by the JSTARS was datalinked to the F-16, and to the JDAM after release. The bomb's impact was within 3m (10ft) of the vehicle, within the lethal radius of the warhead it had been fitted with, says Northrop Grumman.
Source: Flight International
