MONOLITHIC MINIATURIZED TELEMETRY SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper describes developments in miniature, high shock telemetry at ARDEC using monolithic millimeter wave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. Telemetry systems using this technology have been fabricated and gun tested at 60,000 g's with excellent results. Efforts to develop rugged telemetry systems to support testing at very high "G" levels have been underway since 1984. The initial effort was targeted at developing rugged telemetry instrumentation to engineer high performance munitions such as the 105mm and the 120mm Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) which produce very high in-bore accelerations. The initial result demonstrated circuit stability and operation during very high accelerations (60,000 g's). A second phase was launched to develop a telemetry system consisting of an FM multiplex, a summing amplifier and a transmitter. These efforts demonstrated that telemetry data could be transmitted during acceleration thrust, through the ionized gases and could provide the real time projectile performance data. This paper presents the results of the work done to date and the potential for broad application in families of high performance munitions systems throughout the testing community.