ROADMAP AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ON PRECISION GUIDED AMMUNITION
Due to the nature of modern warfare, the demand for precision has grown, both to increase the effect
against the opponent and to avoid casualties amongst friendly forces and non-combatant third parties,
reducing collateral damages and providing European soldiers with better tools to fulfill their missions.
Precision Guided Ammunition (PGA) is tailored to achieve precision effects. For this reason it is
identified as an area of strategic importance both from the military capabilities perspective as well as
from technological and industrial point of view.
The current situation shows that the European Capability to provide Precision Guided Ammunition
(PGA) needs to be preserved and further developed to fulfill future needs and to avoid dependencies on
non-European sources for critical skills and technologies. To assure future military operations, the
supply of European PGA must be secured.
In December 2010, EDA signed a contract for a one year study, to provide a step by step plan to
develop a more robust competitive ammunition industry, able to provide the member states with the
PGA capability required in the time frame of 2020.
Main objective of the study was to provide a Roadmap and Implementation Plan on Precision Guided
Ammunition, capturing military requirements and analyzing the capability of the European industry to
develop and produce PGAs able to meet Member States’ requirements.
Methodology
The study-contractor (an industry team lead by BAE Systems and including Diehl BGT Defence, EXPAL
Systems, MBDA, Nexter Munitions, OTO Melara, Rheinmetall Defence, SAGEM and TDA Armements
SAS) conducted the study and reported to EDA and its Member States’ representatives coming from
various fields of expertise (capability development, Research & Technology, procurement, etc.) Input
was collected from companies all around Europe, including primes and major as well as small
subcontractors in the ammunition area, but also institutes and academia’s Sub Matter Experts.
The starting points of the study were some studies analyzing capability needs, (including EDA’s
Capability Development Plan), EU/EDA’s Capability ‘Lessons learned’ documents, and also relevant LoI
and NATO/NIAG studies. This was complemented with Member States expert’s views, collected through
questionnaires and workshops.
The complete Precision Fire Support Engagement process has been evaluated by use of 12 scenarios,
derived from previous land studies and pMS’ requirements. Areas such as engagement cycles, fire
support organizations and key requirements have been studied.
The results were presented to the Member States and other stakeholders for review, feedback and
further comments either during workshops or by sending out completed documents.
The State of Play of the European industry was evaluated in a similar way. A significant amount of data
about existing and planned products, capabilities and resources for development and testing and crucial
technologies for precision guided munitions in Europe was collected from experts in main suppliers and
subcontractors, academia, institutes and Ministries of Defence.
Preliminary results were discussed with focused expert groups, such as the European Network of
National Safety Authorities on Ammunition (ENNSA) and EDA’s group on the Defence Test & Evaluation
Base.
After collecting data on Future Capability needs in Europe and about the industrial State of Play in
PGAs, a deep gap analysis was performed. The objective was to make an assessment of the European
industry concerning its ability to develop and produce Precision Guided Ammunition, using European
and ITAR-free components and to identify potential gaps to perform against future national and EU
scenarios.
The analysis assessed existing or potential obstacles and other factors, such as Technology Gaps,
Economic Shortfalls or Non-EU Dependencies. Conclusions from this analysis fed the next phase of the
project that consisted in the design of the Roadmap and Implementation Plan of Actions - which was the
final delivery of the Study.
KEY CONCLUSIONS
At the end of the Study some clear key conclusions can be derived:
Capabilities Analysis
Member States have a clear need for Precision Guided Ammunition. The study identified similarities but
also differences amongst Member States requirements concerning for example the expected precision,
dispersion, etc. The requirements do not differ in essential parameters between artillery, mortar or naval
support areas, except for range capability of the projectile. Different kinds of communication tools to
permit additional functionality, such as mission abort, or to change the terminal effect, are considered
important.
Certain levels of conformity in requirements among Member States have been identified. A
harmonization of these requirements (fully or in part) would be preferred to achieve both improved
interoperability and increased Security of Supply. The latter requirement in particular may support the
creation of a new business model across Europe.
State of Play Analysis
The data collection also gave a good view of the Ammunition industrial base in Europe. Few delivered
PGA products and on-going development programs were identified within the EU. However, sufficient
capabilities exist (dispersed around various countries) for development, qualification and manufacturing
of Precision Guided Ammunition and would create a solid base for a secured chain of supply for future
PGA military requirements.
The bigger part of the main technology or capability base is ITAR-Free, but on critical areas
dependencies is an existing (or potential) threat for Europe’s capacity on PGAs in the future. GPS
receivers were the most frequently mentioned ITAR component; it was noted that several Global
Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers are available in Europe. However, in other critical areas
like rare earth materials or production of electronics, dependencies and cost issues were identified.
Some of these areas are shared with other parts of civilian and defence industry and a joint solution
would be preferred. Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products might be introduced to PGA military
solutions on component level.
Standards for qualification and testing and the need of appropriate test facilities for PGAs were
especially evaluated and discussed with both pMS and specialised EDA’s groups of Member States
experts. This area is considered to be very demanding both in terms of costs as well as provision of
sufficient safety areas during tests.
Gap Analysis
The gaps that have been identified in the areas of technologies, funding and other resources can be
sorted in three main groups.
The first group which is considered to become critical is the one of components, materials and
technologies not existing in Europe. This group would need an early investment and additional sources
in Europe need to be established to secure the European sovereign supply of military components.
The second group is technology gaps where there are few resources or little knowledge available in
Europe. Products may be world-class but with only one source, or others may not be purchased for
development programs very often, with the additional risk that those resources (or that knowledge) may
disappear if not exercised or supported. A number of components and products were identified in this
group.
The last group includes the capabilities that are currently available in Europe but about which there is a
perceived real risk of total loss of that capability if the resource is not exercised in any development
programmes.
Mapped safety and qualification standards have been analysed. Existing standards are not considered
to be sufficient for new versions of PGA. Given the expected time consuming process to achieve a set of
European standardized test requirements, it is recommended that activities should commence very soon
to get agreements in place in the next five years by leveraging on the ENNSA group. The culture of the
low-quantity missile testing regime may need to influence the traditional thinking about ammunition
thinking, based on high numbers of live firing.
European facilities and proving grounds have been assessed and analysed. For military systems, a lot
of testing and qualification procedures are normally required, which is time-consuming and very
expensive - especially in the Precision Guided Ammunition area - and activities to preserve existing
resources are needed. Some proposals regarding test facilities are included in the study-results for
future considerations. In addition, it is clear that development and qualification costs can only be
reduced by collaboration and sharing of international test facilities.
Economic gap analysis was done according to the ability to deliver a PGA capability in within the
upcoming decade. The impact of the upcoming economic crisis cannot be clearly seen. Other rationales
such as political priorities, ongoing military contracts and personal expenditures will have influence on
Defence spending. Improvement of coordination between countries will support cost reduction efforts,
both on short and long-terms. Meanwhile, the funding of relevant technologies by non-European
countries, is increasing. The need for economic cooperation between European Ministries of Defence is
seen to be the most important factor in achieving a European PGA capability and the only real
possibility.
Roadmap and Implementation plan
The study has identified and described five generic PGA concepts which cover the full potential of
precision enhancement. These concepts are evaluated both against general requirements, associated
technologies knowledge base and the need for facilities.
Priority measures to close identified gaps in the supply chain have been identified and prioritised. Some
identified areas, such as material dependencies, are shared with a wider community and joint solutions
are preferred.
The major result of the study is the Roadmap and Implementation Plan that covers a ten years cycle of
proposed activities. It includes the foundation of a European PGA forum, discussions about European
production of identified critical components and, the definition of a joint European PGA program. A full
list of actions is proposed, with an assessment based on priority, risk and cost.