Terminally guided weapon delivery system

Claim 1

A weapon system for providing terminal guidance to a projectile which rotates about its longitudinal axis during flight and which responds to a command signal so as to modify the flight path in such a manner as to decrease the magnitude of the miss vector between the projectile and a target, said weapon system comprising: means for tracking the target and providing tracking signals indicative of the location of the target; means for lauching said projectile; means for computing the location of said projectile after launch and for providing trajectory signals indicative of the trajectory of said projectile; a canted linearly polarized antenna and a transmitter beacon both carried by said projectile such that transmitter beacon energy is transmitted from said antenna, whereby said energy is polarization modulated as a function of the angular orientation of said projectile; means, responsive to the polarization modulated transmitter beacon energy, for measuring the relative angular orientation of said projectile about said axis; and means responsive to said tracking signals, said trajectory signals and to the measured angular orientation of said projectile for computing an uncorrected miss vector and for providing a command signal, during the terminal phase of flight of said projectile, so as to cause a decrease in the magnitude of the miss vector.