Detachable Bomb Pursuit Vehicle (DBPV) for Bomb Damage Assessment

"The development of low-cost guided munitions has given mission planners a new set of tools to achieve their objectives. These weapons have much greater accuracy than "dumb" iron bombs, but they can still be delivered from aircraft flying safely at highaltitudes, and are effective in all weather conditions. Although the munitions are usually successful in such situations, often the methods used to measure their effectiveness are not. Imagery for bomb damage assessment (BDA) is difficult to obtain fromhigh flying aircraft or satellites during bad weather, so additional strikes may be ordered when they are not necessary, reducing the overall efficiency of the weapon system. Foster-Miller proposes an innovative solution to this problem of collecting BDAinformation for guided weapons. The Detachable Bomb Pursuit Vehicle (DBPV) will provide a low-cost method for the collection of high-resolution pre- and post-impact imagery, gathered from close proximity to the target. The DBPV will ride a host munitiontoward its target, detach shortly before impact, and follow the bomb into the impact area while collecting and transmitting digital images. In Phase I, Foster-Miller will produce a preliminary design for the DBPV and demonstrate the validity of the flightcontrol concept. (P-020171) At the successful completion of this multi-phase program, the Department of Defense will be able to procure a low-cost modular device, called the Detachabl