MINNEAPOLIS - Honeywell Aerospace Technologies will supply components for ring laser gyros used in the U.S. Navy's WSN-7 inertial navigation system under a five-year, $53.9 million contract.
The firm-fixed-price contract covers up to 1,125 components representing three different parts used in ring laser gyros that support WSN-7, which is used aboard a variety of Navy submarines and surface ships. All work will be performed in Minneapolis.
The WSN-7 is a ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system that calculates and disseminates a ship's position, velocity, and attitude, including heading, roll, and pitch. The system provides real-time navigation data to navigation and combat systems. Navy documentation describes the WSN-7/7A as a passive navigation system designed to maintain a navigation solution without continuous external position references.
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Angular rotation
The system uses three ring laser gyros and three accelerometers to measure angular rotation and acceleration along three axes. The sensors form the core of the inertial measurement system, with the gyros detecting changes in the platform's angular motion and the accelerometers measuring changes in linear motion. Navigation processing combines those measurements over time to calculate the platform's changing orientation, velocity, and position.
Ring laser gyros measure angular rotation using the Sagnac effect. Two laser beams travel in opposite directions around a closed optical path, and gyro rotation produces a measurable difference between the counter-propagating beams. Because the RLG has no mechanical spinning rotor, it can provide highly precise angular-rate measurements without the mechanical wear associated with conventional gyroscopic mechanisms.
The inertial sensors also provide an important navigation capability when external navigation references are unavailable or degraded. WSN-7 can incorporate external inputs, including position updates and ship-speed information, to help bound accumulated inertial-navigation error. Between those updates, the inertial sensors continuously measure the platform's motion to maintain the navigation solution.
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The Navy developed WSN-7 as a common ship and submarine inertial navigator to replace several older fleet systems, including the AN/WSN-5 aboard surface combatants and AN/WSN-3 aboard attack submarines. Navy documentation identifies WSN-7 and the WSN-7A submarine variant as part of the same ring laser gyro navigation family.
No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Subsequent delivery orders under the five-year contract will be issued through September 2031 and funded with appropriate fiscal-year Navy working capital funds.
Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. The contract number is N00104-26-D-AZ01.
