Fire control systems (FCS) are used to perform ranged weapons targeting, tracking and hitting with much greater speed and accuracy than a human operator can achieve. They can be installed on a wide variety of platforms such as artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, naval vessels, aircraft, armored vehicles and even infantry weapons.
Military fire control systems may be integrated with both large and small ranged weapons systems, including machine guns, rockets, mortars, grenade launchers, missiles and cannons. They may be designed for short, medium or long-range engagement applications.
Fire Control System Integration
Military fire control systems typically integrate a digital computing system with one or more target detection sensors, including radar, sonar, and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) gimbals, that provide information on the direction and distance to the target. They may also incorporate environmental information from sensors such as anemometers, thermometers and barometers. All this data is used to calculate the optimal trajectory for a projectile to hit its intended target.
Automated Fire Control
Automated fire control solutions can aim and fire the weapon in addition to calculating the optimal trajectory. Non-automated solutions may provide operators with cues on where to aim, and may interface with aircraft and vehicle heads-up displays. Some systems can track multiple targets at once, or engage targets according to a priority order, and may also be able to control multiple weapons systems from one centralized platform.
Communications Interfaces
Fire control systems may be interfaced with a range of communications interfaces, including IP-based networking systems such as tactical radios, in order to provide connectivity between users of the platform as well as with external sensors and sources of information. They may be designed to be NATO-interoperable, and to conform to standards such as STANAG 4082, STANAG 6022 and STANAG 4537.
