Rockwell Collins today announced its Athena® inertial navigation system and global positioning system (INS/GPS) has been selected to provide guidance and navigation for the Anka Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV, developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI).

Under the contract, Rockwell Collins will provide TAI with its Athena 511 integrated INS/GPS and air data sensor suite system. The Athena 511 is a high precision, miniaturized solution, weighing six pounds and specifically designed for high-performance UAV applications.

"Our systems and expertise will provide TAI and their customers with the most advanced navigation and guidance available for this strategic UAV," said Claude Alber, vice president and managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Rockwell Collins. "Additionally, because our Athena guidance and navigation system has uniquely surpassed more than 1 million operational flight hours, we're bringing the highest levels of proven reliability to this program."

Unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2010, the Anka was developed for day and night real-time image intelligence for surveillance, reconnaissance, fixed/moving target detection, identification and tracking missions. The MALE UAV can reach 30,000 feet with endurance of 24 hours.