ATK’s PGK: Turning Shells into Precision Artillery
Jan 08, 2013 13:14 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
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Alliant Tech Systems’ GPS-guided Precision Guidance Kit hopes to do for artillery shells what Boeing’s JDAM tail kit has done for conventional bombs – or what ATK’s APMI kit has done for 120mm mortars.
The Western way of war has largely pushed conventional artillery off of the battlefield. A 200 – 300 meter CEP (Circular Error Probable, where 50% of rounds hit within that radius) just isn’t viable when you need to reduce the risks of friendly casualties and collateral damage. Attempts to improve that performance began in the 1980s, but ran into 2 big roadblocks: cost, and reliability.
GPS guidance and new technologies like MEMS have helped solve the reliability problem, and Raytheon’s widely-fielded M982 Excalibur rounds offer a publicly-disclosed CEP of 20m. It’s probably a bit less in practice. On the other hand, they cost over $100,000 per shell, and must be produced as a complete unit. Enter artillery fuze and propellant maker ATK’s XM1156 Precision Guidance kit, which screws into existing 155mm M549A1 and M795 shells, costs less, and offers < 50m CEP. That's good enough to make PGK an important supplement, and the US Army is pursuing it.
Contracts & Key Events
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Unless otherwise noted, the US Army Contracting Command’s Joint Munitions & Lethality Contracting Center, CCJM-CA in Picatinny Arsenal, NJ manages the contracts.
Alliant Techsystems Operations, LLC (ATK) in Plymouth, MN is the contractor, after winning the shoot-offs and receiving the 2007 Precision Guidance Kit contract. ATK was already the US Army’s top supplier of artillery propellant and fuzes, so this is a natural extension for them.
Dec 11/12: Tests are a go. The US Army announces that soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment in Fort Bliss, TX, became the first troops to fire the XM1156 PGK, during October tests at Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ. The Fort Bliss Soldiers fired 28 rounds as they helped Picatinny representatives successfully complete the Early User Assessment, (EUA), the Sequential Environmental Test for Performance (SET-P), and a 4/4 Program of Instruction Excursion using a completely digital sensor-to-shooter call for fire.
The Program Executive Office for Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, is scheduled to begin fielding the PGK in spring 2013, via an Urgent Material Release.
Nov 16/12: Production. A $14.5 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to produce the Precision Guidance Kit. Work will be performed in Plymouth, MN with an estimated completion date of Aug 15/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
July 16/12: EMD. A $6.6 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to continue the PGK’s Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase. Work will be performed in Minneapolis, with an estimated completion date of June 28/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
May 29/12: Production. A $20.6 million firm-fixed-price contract modification begins to buy 155mm Precision Guidance Kits. Work will be performed in Plymouth, MN, with an estimated completion date of Aug 31/13. One bid was solicited, with one bid received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
Production begins
June 29/09: SDD. A $5.8 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract under the 155mm M549 system development and demonstration program. Work will be performed in Plymouth, MN, with an estimated completion date of June 2011. Bids were originally solicited on the World Wide Web, with 5 bids received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
Feb 4/09: SDD. A $6 million modification to a cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract for 155mm, M549 system development and demonstration. Work will be performed in Plymouth, MN, with an estimated completion date of June 30/11. Bids were originally solicited on the World Wide Web, with 5 bids received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
May 24/07: SDD. A $6 million modification to a cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-award-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract for 155mm, M549 system development and demonstration. Work will be performed in Plymouth, MN, and is expected to be complete by June 30/11. C Bids were originally solicited on the World Wide Web on April 14/07, and 5 bids were received (W15QKN-06-C-0130).
Additional Readings
- Alliant Tech Systems – PGK – Precision Guidance Kit product sheet [PDF].
