Gun-launched guided projectile system

摘要

In a gun launched guided projectile system for use with small-calibre weapons, comprising a projectile launching gun, a control station 14 located remotely from the projectiles and associated with the gun, and a supply of projectiles, the control station includes means for tracking targets 12 and in-flight projectiles 11, means for predicting future target and projectile positions, a computer for calculating projectile course corrections and means for transmitting course correction signals to the projectiles in flight, and the projectiles have course correction means responsive to the course correction signals. Conveniently the course correction signal comprises a common directional reference signal which may be a plane-polarised radio wave, and a subsidiary reference signal, which may be a laser beam scattered from the sea surface below the projectile flight path. Each course correction signal may include an indication of the time of flight of the projectile to which that signal relates, each projectile being arranged to respond only to those course correction signals containing the appropriate time of flight so that many projectiles may be addressed and guided separately in a single communications channel.