Rockwell Collins navigation system selected for AeroVironment's Global Observer Unmanned Aircraft System

The Rockwell Collins Athena 411 Inertial Navigation, Global Positioning, Air Data, Attitude, Heading, Reference System (INS/GPS/ADAHRS) has been selected by AeroVironment for their Global Observer. AeroVironment is developing Global Observer, a liquid hydrogen-powered Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) that will fly at an altitude of 65,000 feet for up to seven days, for the U.S. Special Operations Command as well as for other military and civilian applications.

"We believe our proven high-performance, high-reliability solution, embodied in the compact, light-weight Athena 411, will enable the Global Observer to achieve its unique mission and performance goals," said David Vos, senior director of Control Technologies for Rockwell Collins. "We look forward to working with AeroVironment to provide best-value navigation solutions for this advanced program."

Developed for both UAS and military applications, the Rockwell Collins Athena 411 integrates solid-state gyros and accelerometers, magnetometer, GPS receiver and air data sensors into a single small unit. This highly reliable, strap-down system provides attitude and heading measurements with accuracy that is superior to traditional inertial navigation systems.

Rockwell Collins is also providing the Global Observer with our ARC-210 radio solution, which offers two-way, multi-mode voice and data communications over a 30 to 512 MHz frequency range. The system also includes embedded Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) anti-jam waveforms and other data link and secure communications features.