WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., Sept. 6, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (ES3) today announced the successful dispense of 13 BAT brilliant anti-armor submunitions deployed from a U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) here.
The objective of the Aug. 30 test, sponsored by the Army's Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), was to complete development testing by demonstrating the performance of Northrop Grumman's pre-production BAT submunitions and the Lockheed Martin Block II TACMS delivery vehicle
The submunitions employed for this test were produced in Northrop Grumman's new BAT manufacturing facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Under a 1998 test hardware contract, 88 BAT's are being produced for testing, evaluation and proofing production processes prior to full-rate production. Separately, Northrop Grumman is under contract to provide more than 900 additional BAT submunitions as part of the low-rate initial production phase of the program.
For the test at White Sands Missile Range, BAT submunitions with warhead systems as well as BAT's equipped with data recorders were utilized. The versions with data recorders allow collection of flight test data to substantiate pre-test and post-test modeling and simulations.
"A quick-look analysis of the data indicates the flight test was a success, with BAT submunitions performing as expected," said Dr. William H. Forster, vice president-Land Combat Systems business area. "Although analysis of flight data recorder and range instrumentation data will continue for several days before quantified results are released, tracking camera and radar data showed that the ATACMS missile flew accurately to the dispense area, allowing all BAT's to be dispensed near the moving armored targets. Following dispense, the submunitions transitioned to their target acquisition state and engaged the remotely controlled targets. At least eight of the moving armored targets sustained hits, with six of the BAT's striking vulnerable areas."
The test data will now be evaluated by a team comprised of AMCOM, Northrop Grumman ES3 and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
BAT is an autonomous submunition that uses passive acoustic and infrared sensors to find, attack and destroy moving tanks and other tracked vehicles deep in hostile territory. It is designed to be carried and dispensed by the ATACMS Block II surface-to-surface missile family produced by Lockheed Martin, as well as ground-, air- and sea-launched cruise missiles, artillery rockets and munitions dispensers.
The BAT program is managed by the Army's TACMS-BAT Project Office at Redstone Arsenal.
Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense electronics and systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, space systems, marine systems, logistics systems, and automation and information systems.