iXBlue To Equip UK Aircraft Carriers With New Navigation System

The UK Royal Navy has selected iXBlue to supply inertial navigation systems for the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

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.

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.”

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.