ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – U.S. Air Force guidance experts needed system that blends the Global Position System (GPS) satellite navigation system with inertial navigation system (INS) technology. They found their solution from the Northrop Grumman Corp. Mission Systems segment in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., announced a $1.4 billion contract to Northrop Grumman on Friday to build and sustain the airborne Embedded Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS)-Modernization, or EGI-M system.
Based on a modular open-systems architecture, the EGI-M system supports the rapid insertion of new capabilities into military aircraft like the F-22 jet fighter and E-2D carrier-based radar aircraft.
EGI-M technology is designed for compatibility with legacy aircraft, and adds Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen air traffic control requirements.
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ADS-B Out transmits information about an aircraft’s altitude, speed, and location to ground stations and to other equipped aircraft in the vicinity.
The EGI-M is an upgraded version of the Northrop Grumman multiservice Embedded Global Positioning System Inertial Navigation System (EGI) system that combines GPS and inertial technologies.
The EGI, manufactured by the Honeywell Inc. Aerospace segment in Clearwater, Fla., and Northrop Grumman is a navigation system that combines a GPS receiver card with an INS in one 20-pound unit that measures 7 by 11 by 12 inches.
The navigation systems are for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft as upgrades to existing systems or as replacements for older and less capable systems.
The EGI is an Army/Navy/Air Force program that developed a small, reliable, lightweight navigation and guidance unit that contains precise position service GPS on one standard electronic module, plus a ring laser gyro inertial navigation system.
EGI provides three navigation solutions: GPS only, inertial navigation only, or a blended GPS/INS navigation solution. The EGI system has been in production since the late 1990s.On this contract Northrop Grumman will do the work in Woodland Hills, Calif. and Salt Lake City, and should be finished by September 2032. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Mission Systems online at www.northropgrumman.com, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center-Robins at www.robins.af.mil/Units/AFLCMC.
