BAE SYSTEMS supplies Infra-red detectors to BOFORS/GIAT 155 Bonus Smart Munition Programme
31 Jul 2001
BAE Systems has won a contract to supply 11,000 infra-red detectors for the BONUS 155mm artillery smart munition. BAE Systems is the largest manufacturer of infrared detectors in Europe with a capability that extends across a wide range of technologies and detector types.
BONUS is a joint Bofors Defence/GIAT Industries project. This smart munition is fired from conventional 155mm artillery systems. Once fired, at a given phase in its trajectory, the round separates to deploy two sub-munitions which use the detector to search for and attack targets within a given search footprint. Once a target is located the sub-munition then moves into the attack phase to destroy the target. If no targets are identified, the system self-destructs to avoid leaving live munitions on the battlefield.
The detector, made at BAE Systems Avionics, Tactical Systems Division, Southampton, transforms collected spectral energy into an electrical signal, by using an array of six photo-conductive Cadmium Mercury Telluride (CMT) elements, operating in two spectral wavebands. The array is cooled by a fast cooldown, two-stage thermoelectric cooler and all components are housed in a hermetically sealed encapsulation.
BAE Systems, Avionics infra-red products include single and multiple element infra-red (IR) detectors, linear and 2-D IR arrays, in both cooled and uncooled technologies for: thermal imaging, missile guidance, fusing, smart munitions, targeting and tracking, gas detection and analysis, flame detection, spectrometry, remote sensing, and materials analysis.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
