Integrated INS/GPS navigation systems for tactical applications

Recent advances in navigation technology have led to an overall improvement in the ability to navigate to a predetermined location. Availability of the United States Global Positioning System (GPS) has permitted high-accuracy integrated navigation performance with a wide range of inertial sensors. Kearfott has developed a family of ring laser gyroscope angular displacement and linear acceleration sensors which have been integrated with GPS in various configurations to address the operational requirements and cost of ownership constraints for tactical applications. This paper discusses the progress Kearfott has made in the development of its line of inertial measurement and inertial navigation products that have been integrated with GPS receiver sensors for tactical mission requirements. The utilization of GPS aiding in the enhancement of the performance of the systems for short mission duration is presented. Test data from the resultant INS/GPS configuration are compared to simulations of the system as designed vs. utilization of the present operational GPS satellite constellation.