Northrop Grumman,
CHARLOTTESVILLE: A Canadian Navy destroyer has completed the first successful sea trials with a new-generation inertial navigation system (INS) and data distribution network supplied by Northrop Grumman Corporation.
The Iroquois-class destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan, is the first naval ship to go to sea with the MK49 ring-laser gyro navigator (RLGN) INS and Navigation Data Distribution System (NavDDS). The systems were developed by Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine business unit.
The Sperry Marine MK49 RLGN provides highly precise real-time 3-D position, heading, speed and attitude reference data for the ship's navigation and combat systems. The NavDDS is designed to provide a network backbone integrating INS data seamlessly with other sensors and systems throughout the ship.
“The RLGN-NavDDS combination represents a major advancement in the state-of-the art integrated navigation technology on modern warships,” said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Sperry Marine. “The successful sea trials aboard HMCS Athabaskan provided a clear demonstration of the mission-enhancing capabilities of the MK49 and NavDDS systems for the Canadian Navy.
“Sperry Marine is under contract with the Canadian Navy to supply RLGN and NavDDS systems for 12 Halifax-class frigates, three Iroquois-class destroyers and four Victoria-class submarines,” said DaCunha. “The recently completed ship trials are an important milestone in this program, opening the door to rapid deployment of this breakthrough technology across the remaining Canadian Navy surface and submarine platforms.”
Originally commissioned in 1972, HMCS Athabaskan underwent a major update and modernization conversion in the 1990s. The 129.9-meter (426-foot) helicopter-equipped ship is a multi-mission platform with advanced anti-submarine, area air defence and command and control capabilities.
Sperry Marine has supplied more than 80 percent of the RLGN systems currently deployed worldwide. The MK49 is the standard RLGN for use on NATO ships and submarines.
Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defence and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.
