Orbital ATK Wins $120 Million US Army’s Precision Guidance Artillery Kit Contract

Orbital ATK announced today that the company has signed a $120 million contract with the US Army for additional production of the Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) for 155mm artillery.

Once fielded to the warfighter, PGK will transform conventional 155mm artillery projectiles into a near precision weapon reliably reducing normal artillery dispersion of more than 200 meters to less than 30 meters. This transformation allows highly responsive and precise use of artillery on the modern battlefield.

The contract calls for the production, lot acceptance testing and delivery of the guidance fuzes for fielding to US and select allied armies. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2016 without a production break from the Low Rate Initial Production which began in January 2015.

Dan Olson, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s Armament Systems division of the Defense Systems Group said, “Fielding PGK for use with existing artillery projectiles provides soldiers with a distinct battlefield advantage by greatly reducing the inherent dispersion associated with conventional artillery. The next step is growing PGK into future precision applications for either existing or new direct and indirect fire weapons systems.”

PGK is guidance fuze that fits within the fuze well of 155mm high-explosive artillery projectiles, performing in-flight course corrections to greatly reduce artillery dispersion.

The design features a fixed-canard guidance and control approach with gun-hardened electronics and a self-generated power supply. PGK performs all standard fuze functions while also incorporating a “fail-safe” option, preventing a PGK-equipped artillery round from detonating if it does not get close enough to the target.