Australian deep-tech company Advanced Navigation has secured a $26 million supply agreement with KONGSBERG to provide inertial navigation systems for the Norwegian defence company’s PROTECTOR Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) platforms, highlighting the role of Australian technology in international defence manufacturing supply chains.
Under the agreement, Advanced Navigation will supply hundreds of its Boreas Fibre-Optic Gyroscope (FOG) Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) for integration into PROTECTOR platforms. The systems provide positioning, orientation and heading information to support operation when GPS signals are jammed, spoofed or unavailable, according to Advanced Navigation.
The PROTECTOR platforms are manufactured in Norway and are scheduled for delivery to Poland’s Armaments Agency under a NOK 16 billion (about $2.41 billion) agreement. Advanced Navigation said its participation is supported by the Australian Department of Defence’s Global Supply Chain Program.
The agreement follows an earlier multi-million-dollar deal under which Advanced Navigation supplied its Boreas D90 FOG INS for integration into KONGSBERG’s PROTECTOR RS4 platform.
Advanced Navigation managing director EMEA David Leniewski said reliable positioning is important as electromagnetic warfare increasingly affects military operations.
“As electromagnetic warfare becomes a defining feature of modern conflict, precision is no longer determined by arsenals or sensors alone,” Leniewski said.
“It depends on knowing exactly where the platform is, how it is moving and maintaining that accuracy even when GPS is denied. That’s where Boreas becomes mission-critical.”
According to Advanced Navigation, Boreas uses sensor-fusion algorithms to maintain positioning during physical and electronic disruption, providing an alternative source of navigation information when satellite signals are unavailable.
KONGSBERG senior vice president, land systems, Jørgen Andreas Bull said integrating the technology into PROTECTOR C-UAS platforms is intended to provide forces with navigation resilience in GPS-denied environments.
“Modern threats do not observe fixed boundaries, and countering them requires a fundamental evolution in platform survivability,” Bull said.
The companies said PROTECTOR systems incorporating Advanced Navigation technology are deployed across infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, naval vessels and uncrewed ground vehicles.
Leniewski said Advanced Navigation’s vertically integrated manufacturing facilities support internal component sourcing, environmental stress testing and simulated electronic-warfare validation before delivery.
“Unlike legacy PNT suppliers burdened by years-long lead times, Advanced Navigation’s vertically integrated production facilities enable full internal component sourcing, environmental stress-testing, and simulated EW validation prior to delivery,” he said.
