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French company iXBlue to provide inertial navigation systems for Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers
French company iXBlue to provide inertial navigation systems for Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers
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Naval
Industry News - France, UK
French company iXBlue to provide inertial navigation systems for Royal
Navy Aircraft Carriers
iXBlue has been
selected to provide inertial navigation systems for the two Queen
Elizabeth class aircraft carriers currently being built by the Aircraft
Carrier Alliance for the UK Royal Navy. The bridge system for each
of the carriers will incorporate two iXBlue MARINS units. Trials have
already been conducted to optimise the configuration of the units
to meet the specific operational requirements of the vessels.
F-35 Fighter
taking off
(Picture: Aircraft Carrier Alliance)
David Cunningham, iXBlue Ltd General Manager, said,
“MARINS combines outstanding performance with significant practical
advantages. The system was designed by iXBlue to meet the growing needs
of the world’s navies for more accurate and robust inertial navigation
systems and incorporates iXBlue’s state-of-the-art fiber optic
gyroscope (FOG) technology. Significantly, MARINS can be integrated
with a wide range of other sensors and can provide input to advanced
bridge, weapon and other systems.”
iXblue
MARINS inertial navigation system
(Picture: iXblue)
As
MARINS is a completely solid state system and has no moving parts,
the units are maintenance-free and highly reliable. These two features
have a very significant effect on through-life cost, which is a
major consideration for many customers.
MARINS has now been selected for a number of prestigious projects,
including the Astute class nuclear submarines, also being built
for the Royal Navy, and the French Navy’s advanced anti-aircraft
frigates Cassard and Jean Bart.
The Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth
and HMS Prince of Wales - are the largest ships ever built for the
Royal Navy. The carriers are being built by the Aircraft Carrier
Alliance (BAE Systems, Thales, Babcock and the UK Ministry of Defence)
at various yards around the UK and assembled at Rosyth, Scotland.