Project Info
The US Army awarded a $688m contract to BAE Systems in October 2013 for the production of Paladin M109A7 artillery systems, with an option to procure a total of 66 vehicle sets, including a self-propelled howitzer and an ammunition resupply vehicle.
Description
The Paladin M109A7 next-generation artillery system being manufactured by BAE Systems is a significant upgrade to the combat-proven M109A6 Paladin cannon artillery system. The enhanced artillery system offers key fire-support for a variety of potential combat missions conducted by the US Army’s Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs) in conventional, hybrid, irregular and counterinsurgency combat environments. The artillery system was inducted into low-rate initial production (LRIP) in May 2014, while full-rate production is expected to commence in 2018.
Altatech was contracted to perform Gap Analysis and to support the modeling effort for the PIM Gun Drives and Rammer (GDR) according to MIL·HDBK·2165; to implement the necessary testability tasks and activities to achieve Fault Detection, Isolation, Prognostics, Built in Test (BIT), and Built In Test-Equipment (BITE) requirements.
Performed eXpress modeling and assessment on various assemblies to determine areas which could benefit the most from BIT capability improvements, to improve isolation, and to reduce ambiguity group sizes. Worked on controls, firmware, software; and with electrical engineering resources to perform those assessments, updating eXpress models to show potential BIT isolation improvements. Developed a report in mutually agreed upon format to document the results.
