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| FY98 Annual Report | |||
IMPROVED TARGET ACQUISITION SYSTEM (ITAS)
| Army ACAT III Program: | Prime Contractor | |
| Total Number of Systems: | 1165 | Raytheon TI Systems |
| Total Program Cost (TY$): | $793M | |
| Average Unit Cost (TY$): | $591K | Service Certified Y2K Compliant |
| Full-rate production: | 3QFY99 | Yes |
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010
The Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) is a planned upgrade to the TOW 2 anti-tank weapon system for the light forces. It is an integrated day/night sight, which employs a second generation Forward Looking Infrared intended to enable gunners to acquire targets at ranges greater than achievable with the current TOW sight. In addition, ITAS has an eye-safe Laser Range Finder, automatic boresighting, Aided Target Tracking, and Built-In Test and Built-InTest Equipment (BIT/BITE). It also incorporates an embedded training capability. ITAS is a precision engagement system designed to enhance the Army's ability to dominate the ground maneuver battle.
ITAS can be used with all current versions of the TOW, and has been designed so that it can be used with a potential, future anti-tank missile system. ITAS can be operated in a man-portable configuration using a ground-mounted tripod or mounted on a vehicle-currently the High-Mobility, Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle. The ITAS has a high degree of commonality with the Improved Bradley Acquisition System, which will be integrated into the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System-A3.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The ITAS IOT&E was conducted in 4QFY96. The IOT&E found the ITAS to be operationally effective but not operationally suitable. ITAS did not meet most reliability and maintainability requirements. Additionally, the performance of the BIT/BITE was unsatisfactory and the laser range finder failed to meet accuracy requirements.
TEST & EVALUATION ACTIVITY
A Customer Test (CT) was conducted in February 1998 to address the outstanding ITAS performance issues from the IOT&E. ITAS again failed to meet suitability requirements. The system achieved an 80-hour Mean Time Between Operational Failures (MTBOMF) rate against the 140-hour MTBOMF requirement. Additionally, the BIT/BITE false alarm rate exceeded the requirement and the laser range finder failed to achieve the accuracy requirement of plus or minus 10 meters.
The ITAS continued to successfully demonstrate its capability to engage targets with the TOW missile. During the CT, soldiers using the ITAS successfully fired and hit 8 of 9 targets with TOW missiles. The one miss resulted from a missile failure. The Aided Target Tracker also performed adequately as tested against stationary targets.
Based upon the results of the CT, a LUT has been scheduled for 2QFY99. The LUT will be similar in structure to the CT with the objective of determining if the ITAS meets its existing requirements shortfall.
TEST & EVALUATION ASSESSMENT
The ITAS continues to successfully demonstrate its operational effectiveness in both its capability to engage targets with the TOW missile, and in its superior target acquisition capability in comparison to the current TOW system. However, as OT to date has indicated, system reliability must be improved before ITAS can be assessed as operationally suitable. The majority of the system failures during OT have been software related. The planned LUT will be adequate to answer the outstanding ITAS performance issues.
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