Australian electronics manufacturer Advanced Navigation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MBDA to collaborate on resilient navigation technology.
This initiative will integrate MBDA’s NILEQ absolute positioning technology, aiming to enhance navigation capabilities for various airborne platforms.
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The collaboration will foster joint research and technology development between the UK and Australia.
Advanced Navigation CEO Chris Shaw said: “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.”
The NILEQ technology, which is patent pending, uses novel neuromorphic sensors to derive and match terrain fingerprints.
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By GlobalDataInspired by biological change detection processes, this sensing technology captures data of changing terrain as airborne systems traverse it, matching it to an existing database of the Earth’s surface.
This enables absolute positioning over land, even in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environments.
The co-developed solution seeks to address the demand for resilient absolute positioning information, complementing GNSS in the navigation systems of airborne platforms.
It is designed to enable systems such as uncrewed air systems to secure an absolute position fix over land.
The solution is passive and resistant to interference, enhancing safety for beyond visual line of sight operations.
The potential applications of this solution spans both civilian and military domains.
It supports growing legal requirements for GPS alternatives.
Advanced Navigation and MBDA plan to validate NILEQ in an airborne demonstration in Australia in 2025.
MBDA Australia general manager Tom Tizard said: “NILEQ seeks to address the enormous demand for resilient absolute positioning information that will complement the existing navigation systems of airborne platforms.
“Advanced Navigation are an ideal Australian partner to help accelerate the technology towards market entry. Navigation technologies that are not simply accurate and precise, but also provide the ‘resilience’ against interference, is what propels this partnership.”
Earlier in 2024, France, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, and Hungary signed a framework cooperation arrangement for the joint acquisition of the Mistral 3 ground-based air defence system.
France’s General Directorate of Armaments leads this group alongside MBDA.
