Advanced Navigation, an autonomous systems and navigation technologies provider, along with MBDA, have signed a MoU to co-develop a resilient navigation system integrating MBDA’s NILEQ absolute positioning technology.

The co-developed solution will provide resilient absolute positioning for a multitude of airborne platforms, including in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in mining, they say.

The agreement will see the companies foster joint research and technology development between the United Kingdom and Australia.

Advanced Navigation CEO, Chris Shaw, said: “In an increasingly uncertain world where interference is becoming ubiquitous, commercial sectors can no longer rely purely on GPS for flight operations. There is an urgent need for additional navigation aiding to supplement platform inertial navigation and GPS receiver systems.”

Tom Tizard, MBDA Australia General Manager, said: “We look forward to seeing MBDA’s innovation-driven solutions form the cornerstone of future airborne navigation systems. NILEQ seeks to address the enormous demand for resilient absolute positioning information that will complement the existing navigation systems of airborne platforms. Advanced Navigation are an ideal Australian partner to help accelerate the technology towards market entry. Navigation technologies that are not simply accurate and precise, but also provide the ‘resilience’ against interference, is what propels this partnership.”

NILEQ’s patent-pending technology is underpinned by the use of novel neuromorphic sensors to derive and match terrain fingerprints, it says. Initially inspired by biological change detection processes, the sensing technology captures data of the changing terrain as an airborne system flies across it, and matches it to an existing database of the Earth’s surface.

The final solution is set to enable systems, such as Uncrewed Air Systems, to secure an absolute position fix over land with a solution that is passive and resistant to interference. The technology will enhance the safety of BVLOS operations, as the solution overcomes many of the conventional limitations of airborne image-based navigation technologies, they say.