Urban FAST

The objective of this proposal (F2-2926) is to determine the merit and feasibility of a height-of-burst (HOB) proximity fuze sensor operating in an urban environment. Mustang Technology Group, LP (Mustang) has successfully demonstrated the use of a UHF/L/S-band wideband range/Doppler proximity sensor (i.e., Fuze Air-to-Surface Technology, FAST) that meets the Air Force need for an affordable next generation height-of-burst (HOB) fuze sensor. The FAST concept offers many key system benefits including: (1) programmable 0.5 meter accuracy height-of-burst, (2) ground profiling, even with heavy foliage, (3) height-of-burst, near surface burst, and penetrator operating modes, (4) affordable design based on low cost commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, and (5) meets production goal costs of $1500 for nose mount and $2000 for tail mount variants. This effort will consist of three major activities: (1) making modifications to the existing FAST algorithms, (2) demonstrating this capability through local drop testing, and (3) validating Mustang’s launch-to-burst (LTB) simulation and using this simulation to predict the performance for Urban FAST operating in a tactical environment. This will enable the key system benefits listed above to still be maintained, plus will provide a significant reduction in the collateral damage potential associated with dropping bombs in an urban environment.