Fiber Optic Gyro based Nirht Finder for towed Artillary and Mortars

An azimuth orienting system is proposed for indirect fire towed artillery and mortar weapon systems based on an enhancement of existing fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) technology configured into a north finder system. The north finder in operation would use its FOG rate sensor(s) to determine the Earth's rotation vector in a local horizontal plane. The direction of the vector in this plane points to true north. This technology provides a direct true north orientation which is independent of weather, blockage, and jamming, an advantage which other technologies such as magnetic compass and GPS cannot claim. The Phase I effort will define a baseline specification for a north finder based on FOG technology and the weapon system requirements, determine the optimal configuration of a north finder system, determine methods for coupling the reference orientation to the weapon system, and demonstrate the feasibility of extending the existing technology performance, in both FOG sensors and FOG based north finders, to meet the accuracy/time requirements of the weapon system application.