Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Aviation Systems

Major Professor

C. T. N. Paludan

Committee Members

Al Pujol, Fred Stellar

Abstract

The Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) battlefield continues to evolve with conflicts around the world, requiring quick, precision strike capability. In support of MEU air operations, the AV-8B Harrier needs air-to-surface munitions which, once released from the aircraft, guide autonomously to the designated target coordinates. Global Positioning System (GPS) directed bomb-on-coordinate (BOC) weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW) and Joint Attack Strike Missile (JASM) fulfill this capability. In-flight targeting of BOC munitions against fixed and re-locatable targets is a derived requirement of the weapon to aircraft integration. This paper is an analysis of the target location error (TLE) associated with target coordinates generated using the following AV-8B aircraft sensors: the AN/APG-65 radar utilizing medium resolution synthetic aperture radar (MRSAR) mapping, the Angle-Rate Bombing System (ARBS) using an electro-optical (EO)-TV designation, and the Head- Up Display (HUD) using visual Global Positioning System - Inertial Navigation System (GPS-INS) designations. The three major TLE contributors associated with each sensor designation are aircraft position error, operator error and sensor error. This analysis validates the use of the AV-8B sensor suite in directing BOC weapons in the following priority:

  1. ARBS designations provide for the minimum TLE and should be used as the primary source for direction of BOC weapons such as JDAM.
  2. HUD designations provide for a minimization of TLB and should be used as the secondary source for direction of HOC weapons such as JDAM, provided the ARBS or AN/APG-65 radar is used to determine target elevation.
  3. MRSAR map designations do not provide for minimization of TLB and should not be used to direct a single BOC weapon against a single target designation. Further study is required to determine if the designations are accurate enough to direct multiple weapons against a single target designation.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS