Honeywell to replace ring laser gyros to keep Navy AN/WSN-7 functioning

Navigation and guidance specialists at Honeywell International's Aerospace segment in Minneapolis are building three configurations of ring laser gyros for the U.S. Navy's AN/WSN-7(V) maritime navigation system. Officials of the Land and Maritime segment of the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency in Mechanicsburg, Pa., announced a 3-year $38.9 million contract to Honeywell Aerospace to produce the gyros, which will be spares for navigation systems aboard Navy surface warships and submarines. The AN/WSN-7 is a self-contained, ring laser gyro inertial navigation system that senses ship motions; computes the ship's precise position, velocity, attitude, heading, and rates in digital and analog formats; and forwards the data to other vital ship systems. It has been designed as a replacement for spinning-mass gyro navigation equipment aboard Navy warships. The AN/WSN-7 passive shipboard navigation system calculates and indicates ship's position, attitude, heading, and velocity in relation to the Earth's rotation. It senses motion, gravity, and Earth rotation, and receives externally supplied GPS updates and ship's speed through the water. The standard shipboard configuration consists of two independent cabinets for redundancy and survivability. It is not be susceptible to jamming or detection by enemy forces.