Safran Navkite navigation unit. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
Safran unveiled its Navkite maritime navigation system at the SOFINS 2023 defence exhibition, held near Bordeaux, France.
Navkite has been co-developed with input from French naval special forces and is an autonomous positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system, combining Safran's Geonyx M inertial navigation system (INS); a VersaSync Global Positioning System (GPS) master clock and network time server; a pair of lead onboard lead batteries; and a tablet designed to display a graphical user interface. It is designed to work in tandem with an external global navigation satellite services (GNSS).
The system is watertight and designed to be corrosion resistant, it is fitted inside a hardened case with a total weight of approximately 25 kg. When running on internal power, the system has approximately 10 hours of battery life. However, the Navkite case has sockets that enable it to be connected to an external power source. The VersaSync system is used to detect potential jamming or spoofing of GNSS signals. If the signal reliability falls under certain preset parameters, Navkite will switch off the GNSS function and rely solely on the INS until the VersaSync deems that the signal reliability has increased enough to re-engage the GNSS function.
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