When Sigma points the way for Caesar
24.06.2008
Sagem Défense Sécurité (SAFRAN Group) is the manufacturer of an extremely high-precision inertial guidance system that equips many military systems, including the Caesar gun from Nexter.
© J-M Guhl
The new truck-mounted artillery system, Caesar (CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie) from the French firm, Nexter, is enjoying some real success. With its long-range 155 mm gun, Caesar is characterized above all by its speed of mobility and its ease of deployment in batteries. Its gun also offers a high degree of precision in autonomous firing, a unique capability linked to the performance of its Sigma 30 inertial guidance system produced by Sagem Défense Sécurité. For the first time, an inertial guidance system has been mounted not on the vehicle carrying it but directly on the gun cradle. This means that when set up for autonomous firing a Caesar is capable of firing 6 shells at the target and then moving away in less than two minutes, before an enemy has had the chance to set up a counter-battery.
A high-performance system
© J-M Guhl
Historically, the idea of coupling an inertial guidance system with an artillery gun is not new. Several Western countries have tried their hand at this since the late 1970s. However, the idea came unstuck when faced with the technical difficulty of coming up with navigation systems that have to be at one and the same time precise, capable of resisting extreme impact and vibration and cost-effective. This is a field in which Sagem Défense Sécurité proved to be at the vanguard of innovation, drawing on its experience with traditional and laser gyroscopes. Today, some 25 international programs make use of the Sigma 30 inertial guidance system from Sagem Défense Sécurité for military applications. It is one of the world’s most precise autonomous positioning systems, which needs no re-mapping by GPS so that users need not rely on a satellite signal that always runs the risk of being jammed.
Top of page
SEE MORE
Press releases
- 2013.06.18 | Royal Brunei Airlines selects Messier-Bugatti-Dowty wheels and electric brakes for its Boeing 787 fleet
- 2013.06.18 | Turbomeca’s (Safran) North American and European customers sign a collaboration agreement for BOOST, the future range of integrated online services
- 2013.06.18 | Turbomeca China (Safran) renew the certification of Citic Offshore Helicopter Co Ltd as a Certified Maintenance Center for the Chinese market
MediaLibrary
Online library with the various activities of Safran, freely available to the public and private access to the professionals.
For more information, see the terms of use.
Interactive annual report
An e-accessible interactive version of the 2012 annual report
Click here to read it.
Site Map
Most viewed pages
-
Flux RSS: Press releases - News
-
Facebook
-
Twitter
- Contacts
- Accessibility
- E-mail Alert
- © 2009 Safran
- Credits
- Legal & Privacy Notices
- Site map
How does it work ?
See how our products work.