The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), through the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, recently awarded BAE Systems a $13.1 million contract to demonstrate an optical seeker for precision-guided munitions.
The seeker uses passive electro-optical and infrared sensors to enable autonomous precision guidance in GPS-denied and other contested environments. It is designed to improve navigation, integrates with a range of weapon platforms that use munitions and can operate in day or night. BAE Systems tested the seeker during the first phase of DARPA’s Seeker Cost Transformation (SECTR) program.
“Low-cost, precision munitions are critical to our customers, which is why we’ve developed a flexible seeker that radically lowers the cost typically associated with precision guidance,” Mark Meisner, a chief scientist at BAE Systems, said. “The SECTR program is allowing us to deliver advanced sensing and navigation capabilities for munitions to warfighters faster.”
The current phase of the program will conclude in July 2019 with multiple test firings on several precision-guided munition platforms.