Collins Aerospace awarded US Army MAPS Gen II assured PNT contract
Image courtesy Collins Aerospace
MAPS Gen II is the latest generation of assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) for manned and unmanned ground vehicles. It was selected following a competitive Other Transaction Authority (OTA) phase of the programme that demonstrated the system’s ability to counter PNT threats and provide warfighters with decisive advantages over their adversaries.
Comprised of Collins Aerospace's NavHub-100 navigation system and Multi-Sensor Antenna System (MSAS-100), the MAPS Gen II system brings the highest level of protection against the most severe and evolving PNT threats to support multi-domain operations and mitigate the evolving electronic threats that warfighters are facing today and will face into the future. Warfighters can navigate through high-threat environments with the confidence of knowing where they are, where they need to go, at the precise time with weapons on target.
MAPS Gen II counters peer and near-peer threats by providing a high-assurance, high-integrity, accurate navigation solution using Collins’ industry-leading NavFusion technology, which fuses data from multiple sensors, along with M-code GPS with advanced anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technology. MAPS Gen II’s Modular Open-System Architecture supports maintaining these advantages via technology insertions driven by feedback from the warfighter and system integration teams across the Department of Defense.
In addition, the architecture lets the US Army add new sensors and capability with a much lower life-cycle cost, such as external Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), Line of Bearing (LOB), alternative Radio Frequency (RF), video feeds, and dismounted command and control. The system is interoperable with the Collins Aerospace PRC-162 manpack radio to ensure mission success in the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) battlespace.
“Real world testing in the competitive phase of the MAPS program has proven that the MAPS Gen II system raises the bar for Assured PNT performance when GPS is challenged or denied,” said Ryan Bunge, vice president and general manager for Communication, Navigation and Guidance for Collins Aerospace. “Collins’ long history in guidance and navigation has helped us bring MAPS Gen II into production as quickly as possible and our world-class manufacturing capability will continue providing America’s warfighters with the best protection available.”
