Use of Ground-Based Signals of Opportunity for Smart Projectile Navigation

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Use of Ground-Based Signals of Opportunity for Smart Projectile Navigation

Wright, J / Costello, M

Global positioning system (GPS) is a widely accepted means of navigation, whether it is for civilian or military means. With the implementation of GPS on smart projectiles, these weapons have been able to achieve remarkable accuracy. Even though the improvements in accuracy are impressive, GPS signals are susceptible to jamming and spoofing by a sufficiently motivated enemy. The work reported here examines the viability of constructing a navigation solution using ground-based signals of opportunity that provide range and range rate information. Using a generalized sensor model encompassing the key error terms, a variety of physical devices are included in the analysis. For a typical indirect fire trajectory, navigation solutions are computed as a function of the number and density of signal sources, terrain type, and sensor errors. Results indicate that navigation solutions can be computed with the same accuracy as current GPS systems with a moderate number of signal sources. Generally, more accurate solutions are obtained when the projectile is directly over the signal sources and there is a variation of signal source location in all three axes.