U.S. soldiers prepare to fire a mortar round

BOTHELL, Wash. -- General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, and BAE Systems have successfully demonstrated a tactical version of their 81mm Roll Control Guided Mortar (RCGM) at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., in January.

Sixteen rounds were tested in total, all of which guided to within an average miss distance of approximately seven meters from the target at ranges from 980 meters to 4,000 meters.

The testing was conducted under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

The tactical configuration of the RCGM used the current UK L41 high explosive mortar round and a six-increment propulsion charge system produced by BAE Systems. The guidance package developed by General Dynamics consists of a GPS receiver, standard M734A1 multi-option fuze components, and the company's patented Roll-Controlled Fixed Canard (RCFC) control system.

Daniel Paul, vice president and general manager of Precision Systems for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, said: "Our partnership with BAE Systems has resulted in the near flawless development and demonstration of an 81mm precision mortar. This success is the result of a great team including the U.S. Army ARDEC and Yuma Proving Grounds test community. The telemetry and high-speed video coverage from the tests demonstrate, without a question, the maturity and capability of our 81mm RCGM. We are now in a position to offer the U.S., UK and other allies an affordable guided 81mm precision mortar capability in the very near term."

"The BAE Systems 81mm mortar system is in service with more than 40 countries worldwide, including the U.S. and UK, so we see a large potential market for this low-cost precision round which can be fired from our mortar tube without any modification," said Ian Anderton, managing director of BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions.