European missile manufacturer MBDA has signed an MoU with Advanced Navigation to develop an inertial navigation system (INS).
The collaboratively-developed system will integrate MBDA's NILEQ absolute positioning technology with an Advanced Navigation INS to provide GPS-independent navigation to air vehicles. NILEQ uses neuromorphic sensors to create and match terrain 'fingerprints' that determine the systems location.
“In an increasingly uncertain world where interference is becoming ubiquitous, commercial and military sectors can no longer rely purely on GNSS for flight operations. There is an urgent need for additional navigation aiding to supplement platform inertial navigation and GNSS receiver systems," said Advanced Navigation's CEO Chris Shaw.
The system will undergo flight testing in Australia next year.
“We look forward to seeing MBDA’s innovation-driven solutions form the cornerstone of future airborne navigation systems. NILEQ seeks to address the enormous demand for resilient absolute positioning information that will complement the existing navigation systems of airborne platforms," said MBDA's Australia General Manager, Tom Tizard.