Orbital ATK to produce more PGKs
Orbital ATK will produce artillery precision guidance kits (PGK) for the US military under a $69 million contract option awarded by the US government, announced on 4 August.
PGK combines guidance and fuse function for 155mm conventional artillery projectiles into one device. Replacing a standard fuse with Orbital ATK's guidance fuse greatly increases the accuracy of artillery projectiles and significantly reduces the risk of collateral damage.
The design features a fixed-canard guidance approach with gun-hardened electronics and a self-generated power supply. PGK performs all standard fuse functions while also incorporating a ‘fail safe’ option, preventing the projectile from detonating if it does not get close enough to its target.
Orbital ATK recently completed an initial PGK production run which passed a series of nine separate lot acceptance tests that demonstrated PGK's reliability to guide the round while in flight and perform all fuse functions correctly under extreme environmental conditions.
The company is now delivering to the US military under full-rate production; this second option will see delivery continue through 2019.
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