Technology and applications of the LCCS

IFP develops the high-level software for the fire control system of a weapon system. This is part of the European Fire Control System (EFCS). It serves as an interface between the command post, carrier vehicle and weapon system of an air-launched missile launcher.

MARSThe gun system is aligned via two encoders as CAN nodes. The aiming angles are determined and monitored depending on the position angles. The hardware in the form of a PC/104 stack contains the actual CPU board, a CAN board with two channels, an RS-485 board and an Ethernet board. The CANopen protocol is used as the protocol between the CAN nodes and a “CANnode Master”, which serves as a management service for the CAN nodes. The system’s control process is implemented in C++. The weapon system should be able to fire GPS-guided missiles manufactured by Lockheed Martin. For this purpose, all relevant values of a GPS receiver such as Almanac, Ephemeris etc., which are supplied in ICD-GPS-153C format by the GPS Space Segment, must be stored and transmitted to the weapons in a timely manner. This roll-stabilized missile is guided via four canards and reaches targets up to 75 km with GPS accuracy. The software has now been expanded to include the weapon types SMArt (search fuse artillery ammunition) and UNITARY (a precision weapon). When using the SMArt weapon type, the weather data in the target area is transferred to the sub-projectiles.