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In the Military Gregg K. Kakesako |
GPS improves
artillery accuracy
In two years, the 25th Infantry Division's artillery units will have a system that uses global positioning satellites to guide artillery shells to their targets, the Boston Business Journal recently reported.The newspaper said manufacturer Raytheon Co. fired a 155 mm shell 12 miles, landing it within 11 feet of its target. Engineers faced a technical challenge in that such rounds are subjected to extreme G-forces when a howitzer is fired.
The shell completed numerous flight adjustments and hit the target at a near vertical descent, Raytheon said, adding that that makes it suitable for use in cities where buildings can interfere with a shell's trajectory.
Nearly 3,200 employees of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and the Intermediate Maintenance Facility donated to various charities participating in the month-long 2004 Combined Federal Campaign.
"After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the shipyard raised a record $470,000," Capt. Frank J. Camelio, shipyard commander, said. "In 2002, we exceeded the $500,000 mark. Last year, we surpassed $600,000. To extend that generosity yet another $30,000 is indicative of the charitable spirit of the shipyard."
The employees of the state's largest industrial employer averaged more than $200 per donor.
The CFC was created in 1961 by presidential executive order to consolidate numerous charitable drives, allowing for a single campaign to be conducted once a year in all federal and military work places.
sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. He can be reached can be reached by phone
at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.