Evaluation of the Use of GPS-Aided Weapons to Attack Moving Targets

The current intelligence gathering and strike decision infrastructure is optimized to handle geographically and temporally fixed targets. When tasked to respond to targets that require near immediate engagement, however, the system is stressed to the limit of its capability. When these Time Sensitive Targets are capable of relocating, the process of rapidly applying lethal force becomes even more complicated. This thesis examines the problems associated with attacking a moving target using low cost GPS-aided standoff weapons, without an integrated weapon seeker. It begins with a discussion of the history and evolution of the Navy's ability to attack time sensitive moving targets, and provides the description of a system that could address shortcomings noted. MATLAB(registered) Simulink(registered) was used to develop a model to simulate the proposed system, and determine the responses to various combinations of identified error sources. The results of the research showed that the type of system proposed is technically feasible.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Evaluation of the Use of GPS-Aided Weapons to Attack Moving Targets', published 2001 under ISBN 9781423529859 and ISBN 1423529855.