FREIBURG, Germany: Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri to deliver two full navigation suites for the second pair of U212A class submarines being built for the Italian Navy.
This new contract represents the natural evolution of the joint German-Italian Submarine Program. Fincantieri, which has already constructed and delivered the first two submarines to the Italian Navy, is also building the second pair of boats at its Muggiano shipyard.
The navigation suites, comprising the PL41 Mk4 ring laser gyro inertial navigation system and the navigation data controller (NDC), will be supplied by the company’s German navigation systems subsidiary, Northrop Grumman LITEF.
“Northrop Grumman LITEF has a long history of supplying naval navigation products using both fibre-optic gyro and ring laser gyro technologies to customers which include more than 30 of the world’s navies and coast guards” said Norbert Sandner, director of marketing and sales for Northrop Grumman LITEF. “Our state-of-the-art PL41 Mk4 offers the high accuracy and reliability these modern submarines need, and this award demonstrates Northrop Grumman’s continuing commitment to the international naval market.”
The PL41 Mk4 is an advanced ring laser gyro inertial navigation system, suitable for operating on board modern naval vessels. The equipment is designed to provide continuous and automatic data outputs of ship’s heading, attitude and heave, corresponding rates, geographical position and velocity information. The PL41 Mk4 consists of the basic unit (BU) and a remote control and display unit (RCDU). The BU is an environmentally sealed cabinet, which contains the motion sensitive inertial sensors, processing electronics, input and output function, power and I/O distribution cable harnesses and supporting electronics. The RCDU is provided for operator interface.
The navigation data controller (NDC) functions as a central navigation computer and interface control, monitoring and distribution unit, and features a proven dual redundant ring-bus architecture. A dedicated intelligent interface reduces the master processor work load and increases the data throughput substantially.
Northrop Grumman LITEF is a leading supplier of inertial sensors, inertial reference and inertial navigation systems and computers with products deployed in more than 30 countries in aircraft, naval and ground mobile applications worldwide.
Northrop Grumman has a strong presence in Europe and operates from locations in France, Germany, Italy and Norway, providing navigation, air traffic control and postal automation systems. In the UK, Northrop Grumman operates from a number of locations and provides avionics, air traffic communications, electronic warfare systems, marine navigation systems, robotics, C4ISR solutions and mission planning, aircraft whole life support, IT systems and software development.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.
