Northrop Grumman [NOC]was awarded a contract by the German Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) to deliver the first 257 inertial navigation units for the German Bundeswehr’s new Boxer multi-role armored vehicle.
The LLN-GY units will be built by the company’s German navigation systems subsidiary, Northrop Grumman LITEF.
The LLN-GY is a hybrid land navigation system based on a state-of-the-art fiber-optic gyro and micro-electromechanical (MEMS) accelerometers developed and manufactured by Northrop Grumman LITEF in Freiburg, Germany. Combining inertial sensors with an odometer and Global Positioning System (GPS) data, the LLN-GY provides accurate and uninterrupted position and attitude data for vehicle commanders and crews, the company said in a statement.
Interfacing with the German battlefield management systems (BMS), the LLN-GY navigation system guarantees higher reliability and accuracy of actual position data within the BMS, compared to a stand-alone GPS solution. “Unjammable situational awareness and precise indication of direction to waypoints are safety critical information for the commander, the driver and the infantry crew of the Boxer,” said Norbert Sandner, director of marketing and sales for Northrop Grumman LITEF. “This contract for the series production phase of the Boxer reflects the confidence of the German Army in the performance of our LLN-GY navigation system.”
The Boxer armored transport vehicle is a mobile 8×8 wheeled vehicle whose modular design enables a range of mission-specific applications from transporting troops and serving as a field ambulance to combat engineering or tactical communications. The Boxer is being built as the next generation of armored vehicle for the armies of both Germany and the Netherlands under a cooperative program between the two nations.
Northrop Grumman LITEF will deliver the miniaturized LLN-GY inertial navigation system for use in both nations’ vehicles. The LLN-GY system has already been provided for the German-Dutch Fennek light armored reconnaissance vehicle.