Overview

Artillery Fire Control System ART SYS 2000 is designed for field artillery fire control in accordance with the tasks of modern war management. The system is interoperable with the command information system (CIS) of joint forces.

ART SYS 2000 is a complete system, battle proven. It comprises all equipment needed for accomplishment of artillery tasks, ranging from observer's instruments and fire direction center (FDC) to fire positions. ART SYS 2000 also includes digital communications and differential GPS (D-GPS) technology.

ART SYS 2000 advantages are as follows:

• significant reduction in artillery reaction time
• considerable increase in firing accuracy
• increase in artillery efficiency
• reduced quantity of needed ammunition
• simultaneous firing of different weapons
• simultaneous firing at a number of different targets
• database management for all targets, weapons and all artillery deployment elements
• efficient and simple artillery missions planning
• redundancy: each fire position tacter (tactical terminal) or observer tacter is capable of taking over the tasks of FDC; redundancy at low level: in case of failure of part of the system ART SYS 2000 can still accomplish is tasks
• standard artillery commands and messages are installed, and they can be sent automatically

ART SYS 2000 can control firing of:

• all weapon types of West and/or East origin
• weapons of all calibre
• various types of weapons (guns, howitzers, MLRS, mortars) at the same time.

Basic tactical and technical characteristics

Reaction time (from target aquisition to firing)	15-60 sec
Observer and fire position coordinates measuring error	max. 10 m
Target coordinates measuring error	max. 25 m
Time necessary to get into combat position	max. 3 min
Meteorological data (NATO compatibile)	automatical
Firing elements calculation	complete, with all relevant paremeters and data
Number of targets	1000
Number of observers	100
Number of artillery units	100
Equipment operating conditions	full MIL SPEC
Distance (combat deployment dispersion)	Units within the communication area
Radio transcievers type	VHF, UHF

ART SYS 2000 description

ART SYS 2000 enables fast reaction time of artillery units. firing accuracy, optimal efficiency with minimal use of ammunition and its soldier-friendly. This is achieved by using the most recent technologies and their integration into the system. System design and its application are very flexible, and thus it can easily be expanded and adapted to any specific use of field artillery.

GPS equipment that works in real time differential mode (D-GPS) is integrated into the system. This means that the GPS base station (B-GPS) is also an element if ART SYS 2000. B-GPS broadcasts differential correction messages to the GPS receivers of observers and fire positions. Other licenced users of GPS receivers (those that have keys to differential message encryption) are capable of using differential corrections too. In this way, by applying the GPS technology, the coordinates of observers and fire positions are measured with high accuracy and in a short period of time. The typical accuracy of coordinate measurment using D-GPS in ART SYS 2000 is 2 to 5 meters within the time interval of 1 to 3 minutes. The coordinate measurment is soldier friendly and in the case of self-propelled artillery is fully automated. The new D-GPS generation is even of better accuracy: less then 1 meter in less than one minute of measuring interval.

The number of weapons an their type are not practically limited and can be suited with user needs. ART SYS 2000 simultaneously supports different artillery weapons. Artillery weapons can be of West of East origin, or combined. Actually, ART SYS 2000 is designed to control artillery fire on the battlefield with all the artillery weapons and units that make fire support on the battlefield. Besides artillery weapons, ART SYS 200 supports th fire control of mortars of different caliber.

All the equipment is fully mobile, and any position it is either operated by one soldier or is fully autonomus. ART SYS 2000 operation is very simple and soldier-friendly, no special knowledge is required to operate it. Training for the system operation is very short, five days on average.

All devices are battery powered, but can also use other electric power sources. When connected to other power sources, batteries are automaticaly recharged. Constant checking of battery charging is provided. System operation requires no special generators or other sources of energy.

Data (orders, messages) are transmited by digital communication equipment - land lines or radio transcievers. Data is encrypted and radion transimission time is minimised, thus avoiding enemy detection. To ensure digital radio communication over the entire area of the ART SYS 2000 operation, digital repeaters (digipeaters) are included in the system. Digipeaters are devices that receive and check digital messages and then retransmit them. The number of digipeaters in the system is unlimited and it is thus possible to ensure communication over the entire battlefield area.

Ballistic calculations include following data and parameters: all the ammunition data, meteorological data, weapon characteristics and its position and orientation, as well as all the other relevant data. Ballistic calculations are performed in two basic ways: integration of differential equations of projectile trajectories (6DOF - six degrees of freedom) or using approximation functions for firing tables.

Meteorological data is automatically updated by digital communication subsystem.

Observer's equipment is modular and highly mobile. Observer is equipped with advanced sensors: laser rangefinder, GPS, electronic goniometer, digital compass. Other configurations are possible, for example, night vision equipment or thermovision camera.

ART SYS 2000 does not require any special procedures for adjustment and maintenance. There are BITE functions, and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) is less than 15 minutes.

At each operating point (observer post, fire position, FDC, B-GPS, digipeater) there is a tactical terminal (tacter). Tacter have graphical capabilities (touch-screens and pen-based technologies can also be used), providing simple and soldier friendly user interface. Exsisting processing capabilities of tacters are such that they enable further system improvements in the future. Soldier can ger all the neccesary instructions on the tacter screen, and thus there is no need written manuals.

ART SYS 2000 is a very open system, which allows permanent upgrades. The system is ready for production for potential clients.