Our Contribution
Working to ensure that ground forces can rapidly and accurately provide GPS locations of battlefield targets, APL performed design analyses and developed procedures that resulted in the successful testing of the Joint Effects Targeting System (JETS) and improvements to the system’s precision geolocation capability. JETS, now set for initial operation in 2018, will be the first handheld precision-targeting system that includes all-weather geolocation using a miniature inertial navigation system (INS) as well as the ability to use a night or day celestial compass—for which APL conducted design trades and developed specifications. We worked on an even smaller microelectromechanical systems-based INS for the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Marine Corps, devising ways for seamless integration into a deployed Marine targeting system. We also led an effort to measure data suitable to validate error estimates provided by a targeting system integrated onto the Army’s M1200 Armored Knight vehicle.