The Enhancement Of Armored Vehicle Fire Control (Stationary And Fire-On-The-Move) Performance Using Modern Control Techniques

This presentation summarizes the analytical work that has been preformed to date by the Ballistic Research Laboratory in evaluating proposed conceptual fire control systems which utilize modern control theory to enhance: Stationary Firer/ Maneuvering Target, and Fire-On-The-Move Performance. Both conventional man-in-the-loop and automated tracking sytems were used in conjunction with the conceptual fire control systems. Much of work was performed for the US Army Research Development and Engineering Center, ARDEC, as part of that Agency's Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) Program. The presentation begins with a brief overview of the different types of control systems currently being employed in US and foreign production and testbed armored vehicles. The following systems are treated in a generic manner: Driven Reticle, Gun Director, Free Floating Gun Director. The presentation contiunes with an evaluation of each of the above fire control systems' stationary firer performance against maneuvering targets. The fire-on-the-move anlysis follows, with a discussion of the digital optimal controller that was used in place of conventional classical analog controller. To date only the manual tracking system has been evaluated. However, an automatic tracking system using a FUR tracker will he evaluated in the near future.