Unitary Warhead Airburst Fuzing Capability

Mustang Technology Group, LP is proposing a Phase I SBIR study that will expand the capability of existing weapons by providing an airburst fuzing capability by using the available INS information, GPS information, and passive infrared (IR) imagery. Mustang's proposed solution will enable the weapon to determine the position vector (range and direction) to numerous ground based features within the field-of-regard of the weapon using the available INS/GPS information and the passive IR imagery. Even in hilly terrain or in an urban environment, it is possible to map the ground around the target. By interpolating the data and mapping the ground, we can determine an accurate height-of-burst for the weapon - the desired objective. Another key innovation of the algorithm is the ability to predict the accuracy of the altitude measurements in real-time by using a first-order sensitivity analysis of the dominant error sources. The sensitivity parameters allow us to determine which features will yield the most accurate results and how to weight all the measurements optimally. Ultimately, an airburst capability could be added to a weapon such as JASSM with no recurring hardware costs - only software modifications.