The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development & Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806-5000 is interested in receiving white papers from industry for adding a high precision capability to mortar and artillery munitions at low cost. The desired capability shall be accomplished through a Common Guidance and Control Module (CGCM) that could be used on different munitions with minimal modification for each application. The CGCM technology shall apply to indirect fire munitions ranging from 105mm to 155mm artillery shells and 81mm to 120mm mortar rounds. The objective of the white paper is to seek out the suitable CGCM technologies and capabilities in planning of the future Army Technology Base programs. Also see Special Notice W15QKN-09-Z-0304 for information regarding an Industry Day at Picatinny Arsenal on 6 Nov 2008. High precision munitions capabilities are desired by the U.S. Army to reduce collateral damage, improve target attack efficiency under all conditions and reduce ammunition supply logistics burden. Past and present precision munition programs have proven to be expensive to execute, and the guidance and control system has been the main cost driver. High cost has been a key decider in terminating programs or limiting production volume. Guidance and control technology has matured to the point that we now have the opportunity to standardize and modularize the technology. With the economy of scale of the common design approach, CGCM can reduce the precision munitions development and fielding costs. For the U.S. Army, it is expected that the CGCM will provide a precision guidance capability to existing and planned (e.g. Interim Brigade Combat Team and Future Combat Systems) artillery and mortar systems ranging from 81mm (mortar) to 155MM (artillery). Based on emerging Army requirements, near term primary applications are 120mm Mortar and 105mm Artillery. The main projectile application is HE or Combined Effects (e.g., anti-armor) with lethality equal to or greater than conventional projectiles. It is expected that the CGCM to be more of a module than a kit in design. Module can be defined as part of a new or modified projectile concept. Kit is defined as a device that can be added to an existing projectile. CGCM can be used in multiple indirect fire applications with minimal modifications to the basic design. The module should include all active guidance, navigation and control components, safe and arm, fuze, and power source, Enhanced Portable Inductive Artillery Fuze Setter (EPIAFS) fuze and guidance setting interface, output for warhead initiation, projectile status query, manual fuze/Semi-active laser (SAL) setting capability and, if required, seekers, sensors and antennas. The Module should provide an autonomous guidance capability (e.g, GPS) with the following expected terminal delivery accuracy; objective - 50% of impacts within 5M of aimpoint; 90% within 20M, threshold - 50% of impacts within 10M of aimpoint; 90% within 30M. The module should be upgradeable to include a SAL seeker or other man-in-the-loop (MITL) system to achieve about a 1.0 meter CEP or better. It should be modular in design, affordable, reliable, accurate, and versatile. The module needs to incorporate GPS counter-countermeasures (if GPS is used). Loss of or jamming of GPS in the terminal trajectory should not result in delivery errors increasing more than 100% over baseline (threshold, objective) delivery errors. Any MITL seeker will incorporate counter-countermeasures (CCM) against known and projected countermeasures (CM). Terminal trajectory shaping and ability to engage moveable targets are desirable. The module, when incorporated with the projectile, should be capable of providing a minimum of 0.5g maneuverability during the entirety of the terminal trajectory or be able to maneuver 100m within 1km range. Note: these are expectations and not requirements. Expectations are stated simply to assess the state of the possible for CGCM technology base planning. Interested parties are requested to address in their white papers how best their design solution can exceed, meet or come close to meeting the aforementioned CGCM design expectations. In areas where industry believes the expectations to be unreasonable or insufficient, etc., industry is invited to provide suggestions for improvement. In addition, interested parties are requested to address the following design areas in their white paper: size; weight; projectile configuration (projectile body may be modified from existing projectile configuration, or new, but must be compatible with existing and planned weapons and suitable for being fired from those weapons); design compatibility with existing and planned logistics requirements (e.g. packaging, stowage); guidance approach and accuracy; countermeasure resistance; terminal engagement abilities; range and time-of-flight; flight safety (e.g. ballistic impact point, self duding and/or self destruct); fuzing; data resetting capability, insensitive munition, production cost of module and total projectile cost based on 10K/year quantity. Interested parties shall identify and mark within their submission any information that is considered proprietary. The suggested page limit for the submissions is 15 pages (8 x 11 inches) paper hard copies. Font shall be 12 pitch with one inch borders. Submission with more than 15 pages can be accepted. The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any private sector input because of this request for information. The Government is not obligated to notify respondents of the results of this survey. This request for information is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). It is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government. No award will be made because of this request for information. If a formal solicitation is issued at a later date, a solicitation notice will be published. White Papers are requested no later than COB on 12 December 2008. The POC for this request for information is Jeff S. Cheung, CGCM APO,
+1 (555) 000-0000,
contact@example.gov. Mailing address: U.S. Army, ARDEC, AMSRD-AAR-MEF-S, Jeff Cheung, Bldg 94, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, 07806-5000.
