Ultrasonic electro-optic seeker

A missile, comprising:

• a nose cone having an open forward end;
• a seeker dome disposable at the open forward end of the nose cone;
• and
• a ball joint gimbal (BJG) seeker assembly securably disposable in the open forward end of the nose cone, the BJG seeker assembly comprising:
• a back shell configured to be coupled to a rim of the nose cone;
• a seeker ball in which seeker components are housed;
• a retaining system disposed to urge the seeker ball toward the back shell;
• and
• a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor and sensor system arrayed between the seeker ball and the back shell,
• the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor and sensor system being pre-loaded by the retaining system and configured to controllably drive an angular orientation of the seeker ball.

A ball joint gimbal (BJG) seeker assembly for use in a missile including a nose cone having an open forward end and a seeker dome disposable at the open forward end of the nose cone, the BJG seeker assembly comprising:

• a back shell configured to be coupled to a rim of the nose cone;
• a seeker ball in which seeker components are housed;
• a retaining system disposed to urge the seeker ball toward the back shell;
• and
• a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor and sensor system arrayed between the seeker ball and the back shell,
• the piezoelectric ultrasonic motor and sensor system being pre-loaded by the retaining system and configured to drive an angular orientation of the seeker ball relative to the back shell based on a closed-loop control algorithm.