Gyro seeker

A dual detection gyro seeker gyro system for a missile having a base and a nose section adjacent said base comprising:

• a. a housing having a nose shaped to fit over the nose section of the missile;
• b. a glass dome in the nose of said housing to permit target reflections and light to enter the housing;
• c. an optical assembly having a longitudinal axis, situated in said housing for focusing acquired targets and light onto an image plane,
• d. a cryostat assembly mounted in said housing having its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said optical assembly but displaced thereform;
• e. a detector situated in said image plane;
• for movement and hydrostatic support in a manner providing housing, supporting said optical system and having its spin axis in coaxial alignment with the longitudinal axis of said cryostat, the rotor of said gyro rotating about said cyrostat while said cryostat remains fixed;
• g. a motor for sustaining the rotation of said rotor;
• h. a spherically shaped hydrostatically mounted platform within said housing, said gyro being supported on its hydrostatic bearings within a spherical cavity formed inside said platform and said cryostat being supported on a pedestal fixed to said platform and passing through to the inside cavity of said gyro;
• i. means for torquing said rotor and for deriving angular movement of said rotor;
• and
• j. means for torquing said platform, whereby said optical assembly' s optical axis and said detector are always maintained perpendicular to each other and said system is rendered capable of detecting designated and acquired targets.