Tank round guides self to target during test - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Tank round guides self to target during test

An Army Abrams 120mm cannon destroyed a T-72 tank more than 5,000 meters away using a next-generation guided tank round able to find its own way toward a target, service officials said.

The December test at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., was staged to prove that the guidance system of the Mid Range Munition (MRM) would work when fired.

The MRM has two guidance modes.

The first is laser designation, in which the round follows a laser spot generated by some other target seeker to the target, or in so-called offset mode, near the target.

The second is with its 3-inch infrared camera. The guidance system compares the IR images to a target library stored in electronic form.

“The algorithm running through the round is looking at the environment and differentiating the target from items that might be in range in a normal desert environment,” said Jeff McNaboe, Army MRM program manager.

In the December test, the round used only its infrared seeker, the first time it had destroyed a target without laser-guided help, said David Rigoglioso, deputy product manager for large caliber ammo at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

In the fall, another test will be used to evaluate the airframe, the guidance electronics unit and the control section, said John O’Brien, Raytheon MRM program director.

The Raytheon-General Dynamics-built MRM is 13 months through a 63-month, $232 million development deal with the Army. Initial production is scheduled for 2012.