WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman said it delivered to the U.S. Army more than 100,000 Precision Guidance Kits that transform 155mm artillery projectiles into GPS-guided weapons.

The all-in-one devices, which replace standard fuzing in conventional shells, are designed to meet increasingly critical objectives for accuracy, the West Falls Church, Virginia-based company said in a statement.

“PGK’s precision provides a critical capability to artillery units, enabling forces to rapidly achieve mission success by reducing the number of rounds required to defeat targets,” said Dave Fine, vice president for armament systems at Northrop, in the statement. “Throughout our 100,000 deliveries, we’ve maintained superior performance, surpassing the Army’s objectives for both accuracy and reliability.”

Northrop said it incorporated user feedback to add a built-in, selectable, safety feature that prevents detonation if the PGK predicts the projectile will exceed the selected miss distance while in flight. The company also said it’s also nearing completion of qualification events to implement GPS M-Code, which will allow PGK to defend against existing and emerging threats to GPS, such as jamming.

Once implemented, PGK will be one of the largest production programs within the U.S. Department of Defense to integrate this crucial capability that allows authorized users to acquire two signals from GPS satellites to achieve superior positioning accuracy. it said.

Northrop is working in other areas to advance the technology, including extended range cannon artillery systems and projectiles that can operate in GPS-degraded conditions. The company also developed the XM395 120mm Precision Guided Mortar that provided a rapid development, production and fielding of a precision munition into tactical theaters.

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