Safran Electronics & Defense has been selected to supply its SkyNaute inertial navigation system for the eVTOL aircraft being developed by Eve Air Mobility, the Embraer subsidiary working on urban air mobility. Two SkyNaute units will be fitted to each aircraft.

SkyNaute is a hybrid inertial navigation system built around Safran's patented HRG (hemispherical resonant gyroscope) Crystal technology. The system is designed for high navigation accuracy and integrity, with reliability drawn from Safran's inertial navigation experience across aeronautical applications.

The architecture maintains navigation continuity in environments where GNSS signals are unavailable, degraded or jammed, a capability Safran and Eve consider central to safe urban air mobility operations. SkyNaute was developed to meet requirements across both defence and civil aviation, reflecting Safran's dual-use approach to inertial navigation.

Benjamin Declety, head of avionics global business unit at Safran Electronics & Defense, says: “With SkyNaute, Safran Electronics & Defense is leveraging its inertial navigation expertise to serve the next generation of civil aviation. We are proud to support Eve Air Mobility in the development of its eVTOL and contribute to the emergence of new urban air mobility solutions.”

Johann Bordais, chief executive of Eve Air Mobility, adds: “Integrating an advanced navigation solution like SkyNaute is essential to maximising the safety, reliability and performance of our eVTOL.”

The selection follows completion of the hover and low-speed flight phase in Eve's flight test campaign for its full-scale eVTOL prototype at Embraer's Gavião Peixoto test facility in the state of São Paulo, accumulating nearly two and a half hours of flight time.