New Navigation System Enables Critical Assured PNT in Contested Environments

November 11, 2019

Smart vehicle integration cleanly replaces the existing navigation system on platforms like the Stryker fighting vehicle for easier upgrade and sustainability.

Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp., has been selected by the U.S. Army to provide a next-generation Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) for manned ground vehicles. Known as ‘MAPS Gen II’ by the Army, the system will maintain the integrity of positioning and timing during operations in GPS-contested environments. Collins Aerospace will deliver new systems to be evaluated for a year with the potential for fielding up to 8,000 additional vehicles upon completion.

Comprised of Collins Aerospace’s NavHub™-100 navigation system and Digital GPS Anti-jam Receiver-100 (DIGAR-100), the new MAPS Gen II solution brings heightened protection levels against the evolving GPS threats that warfighters are facing on the battlefield today. New benefits from Collins Aerospace over the existing Army MAPS solution include Military Code (M-Code) capability and improved levels of reliability through patented Modernized Signal Tracking (MST) that enhances GPS integrity.

“Our warfighters need to be able to execute missions with precision and accuracy, which becomes more difficult when GPS is compromised,” said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager, Communication, Navigation and Guidance Solutions for Collins Aerospace. “Our mounted APNT solution provides the access and integrity required to keep up with the pace of current and future threats.”

The Collins Aerospace NavHub-100 is the navigational solution that generates and distributes Assured Position, Navigation and Timing (APNT) information to all systems onboard the platform through one device. Additional protection comes with the ground-based DIGAR-100 anti-jam antenna, providing superior immunity in the most severe GPS-challenged environments. To reduce vehicle system changes, Collins Aerospace implemented a smart, two Line-Replaceable-Unit (LRU) system that cleanly replaces the existing navigation system in the vehicle for easier upgrade and sustainability.

Source