Mätfokus - Maetfokus

The U.S. Marine Corps has selected Northrop Grumman to provide the Next Generation Handheld Targeting System (NGHTS), a compact device that provides precision targeting and is capable of operation in GPS-denied environments.

The laser-based device will give marines an enhanced capability to identify and designate targets from extended ranges.

“NGHTS will significantly enhance the ability of marines to identify ground targets under a wide range of conditions,” said Bob Gough, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability, Northrop Grumman. “Connected to military networks, NGHTS can provide superior situational awareness and accurate coordinates for the delivery of effects from beyond the line of sight.”

Northrop Grumman’s NGHTS is capable of performing rapid target acquisition, laser terminal guidance operation and laser spot imaging functions. Its high-definition infrared sensors provide accuracy and grid capability over extended ranges. Additional features include a high-definition color display and day/night celestial compasses.

ION’s Pacific PNT Conference is a global cooperative development of Positioning, Navigation and Timing technology and applications where policy and technical leaders from around the world meet to discuss policy updates, receive program status updates and exchange technical information.

The 2022 conference will be hosted virtually April 11-13 PDT on a complimentary basis for ION members. The conference will include sessions on policy and status updates, performance schedules and plans, plus special challenges affecting Asia-Pacific presented by an elite list of experts representing BeiDou, COSMIC/ FORMOSAT, and QZSS.

A session will broadcast each day at 9:00 a.m. JST / 5:00 p.m. PDT. Live-stream attendees will have the opportunity to participate in virtual question and answer periods through the portal.

To register and view the technical program for this conference, visit https://www.ion.org/pnt/index.cfm.

The United Kingdom has issued a market exploration document for alternative navigation for weapon systems to support GNSS.

Specifically, UK Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) want to understand the range of technologies used for commercial positioning and navigation systems. Its main area of interest is to know the location of the weapon during the mid-course phase of deployment, as shown in the figure below, with an accuracy of ±5 meters. Technology guidance to the final target is not part of the scope.

With GNSS vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, the exploration is interested in supporting navigation and positioning technologies, such as:

• Terrain contour matching (TERCOM): uses a radar altimeter and a digital terrain elevation database.
• Digital scene matching (DSMAC): matches an onboard image to an imagery database.
• Inertial navigation systems (INS) or inertial measurement units (IMU): rely on accurate measurements of velocity and time to calculate position.

The market exploration is part of a larger Technology Demonstration Program. The defense agencies recently ran an Innovation Focus Area looking at quantum navigation systems, and selected several proposals for funding.

Quantum technology is not specifically out of scope for this exploration, but the agencies are specifically looking for technologies that could be developed to a testing and trialling prototype within the next three years.

For more information, see the document webpage.

Registration has now opened for the Applanix User Group Meeting and Conference, focused on Air and Land solutions, taking place in Fremont, California, Sept. 20-22. Discounted early bird prices will be available until May 1. The conference is also currently accepting speaker proposals.

This meeting will give you the opportunity to hear the latest news from Applanix, take in-depth product training, meet with product and customer support experts, and network with other industry leaders from around the world.

The conference will take place over three days and will have four main goals:

• Deliver an information-filled training experience on all of our software, as well as the APX series of boards, POS products, and the latest developments in the Autonomy field

• Present the new Land Mobile Mapping line of OEM and plug-and-play products

• Give customers and partners an opportunity to share their most recent projects and experiences

• Provide networking opportunities

To register and purchase tickets for the conference or to submit a proposal, visit Applanix’s website.

Space Tech Expo Europe has opened its call for speakers for the free-to-attend conference to be held November 15-17 in Bremen, Germany.

The conference will focus on the latest advancements in the European and global space industry, including space exploration, in-space manufacturing, launch, system development,  market trends and more.

The conference will take place alongside the leading supplier trade show with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest space technological advancements. The conference provides attendees with the knowledge on the latest developments in European space. Previous speaking companies include: OHB, NASA, ArianeGroup, Airbus Defence and Space, UK Space Agency, ESA and many more.

Proposals for speakers will be accepted through April 11, 2022. To submit a proposal or learn more about the event, please visit the Space Tech Expo Europe website.

Russian military doctrine assumes GLONASS and other GNSS will not be available once a battle begins, so will instead turn to Loran-C for navigation

Russian forces are expert at jamming and spoofing GNSS. As a result, military analysts say, Russian military doctrine assumes that signals from space, including it’s own GLONASS and other GNSS, will not be available once a battle begins.

According to the Russia and CIS Radionavigation Plan, the terrestrial Chayka system, a version of Loran-C, is maintained to protect their homeland with navigation and timing services when signals from space are not available. The portable Skorpion system is designed for military use during expeditions to areas where Chayka or Loran is not available, according to western military analysts.

“Fixed Chayka transmission sites operate between 90 Khz and 110 Khz. Power output is typically between 200 and 800 kW with effective ranges over land of about 800 miles and over water of 1,000 miles,” explained Dana Goward, president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. He noted that little information is publicly available about the military Skorpion system.

“Three of Russia’s Chayka/Loran stations have Ukraine surrounded,” explained UrsaNav CEO Charles Schue, referring to a graphic he provided GPS World. “They provide ideal coverage and will allow navigation accuracy of between 20 and 50 meters over most of the Ukraine. Upgrading to an eLoran equivalent could give them 5-to-10-meter accuracy, but I am sure the current setup is more than adequate for their purposes at the moment.”

Schue was the first commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Loran Support Unit and the first program manager for the congressionally mandated Loran Modernization and Recapitalization project that was upgrading the U.S. Loran-C system to eLoran. As CEO of UrsaNav, he is helping several countries with Loran-C and eLoran projects.

One of the three surrounding Loran transmission sites is in the Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014.

“The primary reason for taking Crimea may have been ensuring access to the ocean,” Schue said, “but it also allowed them to regain control of the Loran transmission site there. This has assured them sovereign terrestrial PNT [positioning, navigation and timing] for the entire region, including the Black Sea.”

A 2017 coverage map from Russia’s Internavigation Research and Technical Centre of Advanced Navigation shows Chayka serving eastern Europe, western Russia, and almost all of the Black Sea.

Canada is leveraging advanced surveillance capabilities to enhance safety and efficiency by implementing a new mandate that will require aircraft operators flying in certain domestic airspace to meet Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) Out performance requirements.

ADS-B uses GNSS technology to calculate an airplane’s precise location, speed and direction. This information is transmitted twice per second, providing greater situational awareness for air traffic controllers. It also provides increased flexibility to accommodate airline and customer preferred routes.

The mandate will take effect in Class A and B Canadian airspace above 12,500 feet on Feb. 23, 2023.

“ADS-B is a foundational building block for our future airspace and operations,” said Raymond G. Bohn, president and CEO of Nav Canada. “The Canadian equipage mandate — when combined with Nav Canada’s space-based surveillance capabilities — will enhance safety and service.”

“The aviation sector plays an essential role in connecting Canadians to each other and the world,” said the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport. “We welcome advancements and innovation that enhance the safety and environmental sustainability of our transportation networks and supply chains.”

The equipage requirements of Canada’s ADS-B mandate are in line with a growing number of other countries in the world, and the adoption of satellite-based surveillance technology ensures long-term alignment with the global aviation system.

Space-based ADS-B is already being used and delivering safety and efficiency benefits to suitably equipped aircraft over Hudson Bay, the North Atlantic and in domestic airspace above 29,000 feet in Canada. In December 2021, Nav Canada began providing service to appropriately equipped aircraft below 29,000 feet in the Montreal Flight Information Region and plans to expand to the Edmonton and Winnipeg Flight Information Regions later this year, prior to the mandate going into effect in 2023.

Future implementation of a mandate in areas within Class C, D and E will leverage a phased approach to help achieve the maximum benefits of a performance-based mandate for Canadian airspace. Aircraft operators and owners will have adequate time to meet the equipage requirements to use space-based ADS-B technology across the country. Implementation in these classes of airspace, to occur no sooner than 2026, will be determined pending further assessment.

About the ADS-B mandate

To meet the ADS-B Out mandate, aircraft will be required to:

• Be equipped with an appropriate transponder with ADS-B Out capabilities and performance with the applicable standard of Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO-260B, “Minimum Operational Performance Standards” or newer.
• Have antenna capability for broadcast toward space-based ADS-B receivers emitting 1090 MHz extended squitter. This requirement can be met either through antenna diversity (the use of a top and a bottom antenna) or with a single antenna capable of transmitting both toward the ground and up toward satellites.

The European Space Agency is looking for navigation and positioning ideas, with its Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) seeking input by March 31.

NAVISP is divided into a trio of elements. Element 1’s scope of activities ranges from initial feasibility studies and viability analyses all the way to full proof of concept for promising positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems and services.

To compile its annual Element 1 workplan, NAVISP invites innovative PNT concepts from companies or academic entities across NAVISP participating states. Those interested can submit a 1-page description, along with notifying their national ESA delegation of their application. See details here.

The NAVISP Element 1 workplan supports cutting-edge European companies in development of novel PNT technologies and services. Underscoring the commercial priority of this field, 20 ESA Member States plus Canada have joined the program.

PNT underpins a 10th of Europe’s economy, according to ESA, in areas such as transport, precision agriculture, power, communication, banking and the fast-growing internet of things.

Satellite navigation, with signals from space extending across the globe, represents the single biggest source of PNT information, but these signals are not available in all locations and are vulnerable to natural or human-made interference.

NAVISP Element 1 is focused on innovation in PNT, involving novel concepts, techniques, technologies and systems along the entire value chain. They often combine GNSS with other solutions such as artificial intelligence, other sensors, adding Wi-Fi or 5G signals to PNT fixes, or employing high-altitude atmospheric platforms to supplement GNSS coverage over regions in need.

Hemisphere GNSS has added to its lineup another Vega heading and positioning OEM board that uses Lyra II and Aquila chipset technology — the Vega 34.  The Vega 60 board was previously announced as using the Lyra II and Aquila chipsets.

Hemisphere’s Lyra II and Aquila application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs simultaneously track and process more than 1,100 channels from all GNSS constellations and signals including GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC, SBAS and L-band.

Integrators who use predecessor Hemisphere 34-pin products, such as Crescent Vector H220 and Phantom 34 OEM boards, can easily transition to the improved positioning performance and the superior satellite tracking abilities of the Vega series, the company said.

The Vega 34 board connectors have no circuitry changes and are identical for all Vector users, enabling them to add Atlas H10 and H30 precise point positioning (PPP) into their solutions.

“Vega 34 gives our integrators an easy path forward to enrich their own product offerings,” said Miles Ware, director of marketing at Hemisphere. “For the first time, Crescent Vector integrators can upgrade to multi-frequency without changing pinouts. They can also take advantage of other standard features like more than 1,100 tracking channels, Cygnus interference mitigation technology and spectral analysis.”

NavIC Upgrade. The introduction of the Vega 34 board also brings a new firmware release. Version 6.05 extends several features and improvements and introduces NavIC (IRNSS) tracking and positioning across the entire Vega and Phantom product lines.

Both real-time kinematic and Atlas positioning solutions are enhanced with improved performance in challenging environments. Users of the BeiDou satellite systems and B2b PPP integrators also will see significant advances in their solutions.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has selected a contractor for a study of positioning in space after an open-call competition.

The study, part of “Development of Positioning and Communication Technology for Monthly Activities,” will consider possible lunar positioning satellite systems and ultra-long-range communication systems between the Moon and the Earth.

JAXA is managing the project, with Ark Edge Space Co. Ltd. serving as the outsourcer for a consortium of companies and academia. Consortium members include Ark Edge Space, AAI GNSS Engineer Office, Kiyohara Optical Co. Ltd., KDDI Corporation, KDDI Research Institute, the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering and Mitsubishi Precision Co. Ltd.

From Jan.1 to March 25, the consortium is studying a comprehensive architecture for positioning and communication systems that will be the basis of lunar exploration, including a lunar positioning satellite system that takes into account the ultra-long distance between the Moon and the Earth.

Activities related to international lunar exploration and development are increasing, including the United States-led international Artemis Program, which plans for a manned lunar landing in 2025 and a manned Mars landing in the 2030s.

The Japanese government is participating in Artemis, joining other countries to build a lunar orbiting base named “Gateway.” Gateway will serve as a way station to support exploration of the lunar surface.