The brand new embedded GPS/INS (EGI-M) system will enable operation in GPS-contested and GPS-denied environments.
Northrop Grumman has efficiently examined in flight the brand new Embedded World Positioning System (GPS) / Inertial Navigation System (INS) Modernization, often known as EGI-M, that will equip the F-22 Raptor and the E-2D Superior Hawkeye. The brand new system, which employs an M-Code know-how, permits missions to be performed in GPS-contested and GPS-denied environments.
“This flight take a look at is a serious step ahead in creating our subsequent technology airborne navigation system,” mentioned Ryan Arrington, vp, navigation and cockpit methods, Northrop Grumman. “The EGI-M functionality developed by Northrop Grumman permits our warfighters to navigate precisely and exactly by hostile and contested environments.”
The flight take a look at was carried out in Could on a Cessna Quotation V take a look at mattress in California, collecting data from three EGI-M systems oriented alongside the axes of the plane physique reference body (longitudinal, native vertical and a 3rd one regular to the primary two). The collected knowledge was then in comparison with high-accuracy Differential GPS knowledge to evaluate the efficiency of the system.
In a press release emailed to us, Northrop Grumman mentioned the EGI-M answer, outfitted with an M-Code succesful receiver, options the following technology, military-grade GPS sign designed to allow the US forces to carry out a broader set of missions crucial to nationwide protection and allies. The EGI-M is positioned as a fast speed-to-fleet answer for current clients, minimizing aircraft-level modifications when upgrading from an LN-251.
The M-Code succesful GPS receiver is a core element of the brand new superior airborne navigation, engineered to shortly transmit positioning, navigation and timing data. The absolutely operational EGI-M system will function a modular platform interface, designed to simply combine with present platform navigation methods, supporting advanced software and {hardware} know-how upgrades now and sooner or later.
As reported by Air & Space Forces Magazine, M-code is a jam-resistant GPS sign that may be exactly centered on the right track areas from GPS Block III satellites utilizing their high-gain directional antennae, and thus much less vulnerable to jamming. The M-code indicators are additionally encrypted to additional cut back the possibility of spoofing.
The LN-351 EGI-M program was began by Northrop Grumman and the US Air Drive to modernize the present LN-251 EGI and put together for future operational eventualities, the place GPS-contested and GPS-denied environments are among the many most typical threats. The engineering and manufacturing growth was launched in 2018, with the crucial design evaluate accomplished in 2020.
Whereas the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and the F-22 Raptor are the launch platforms for EGI-M, extra fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms throughout Division of Protection and allied forces have already chosen EGI-M as their future navigation answer to help mission-critical methods. A listing of the plane that can improve to the LN-351 is presently not accessible, nonetheless the LN-251 is employed on numerous plane, together with the CH-53K King Stallion, the P-8 Poseidon, the MQ-4C Triton and the RQ-4 World Hawk.
Stefano D’Urso is a contract journalist and contributor to TheAviationist primarily based in Lecce, Italy. A graduate in Industral Engineering he is additionally learning to realize a Grasp Diploma in Aerospace Engineering. Digital Warfare, Loitering Munitions and OSINT strategies utilized to the world of army operations and present conflicts are amongst his areas of experience.
