ANELLO Photonics, the creator of the Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG™) and a leader in solid-state, high-precision inertial navigation systems, announced a collaboration with Delta Black Aerospace, a manufacturer of mission-focused uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), to integrate high-performance inertial navigation technology into operational UAS platforms intended for GPS-denied and contested environments.
The collaboration centers on the integration and evaluation of ANELLO’s optical inertial navigation systems, based on its silicon photonic optical gyroscope (SiPhOG) technology, with Delta Black Aerospace’s uncrewed aircraft platforms. The effort is aimed at delivering assured position, navigation, and timing (PNT) performance in environments where GPS is degraded, denied, or unavailable due to electronic attack, terrain occlusion, or mission-specific operational constraints.
Uncrewed aircraft operating in contested environments face increasing risk from GPS jamming and spoofing, driving demand for for more accurate and reliable navigation solutions. Using its silicon photonic optical gyroscope technology, ANELLO provides low-drift inertial navigation in a compact, solid-state form factor designed for SWaP-C-constrained uncrewed and autonomous platforms.
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“For uncrewed systems, assured navigation without reliance on GPS is no longer optional,” said Dr. Mario Paniccia, co-founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics. “This collaboration with Delta Black Aerospace focuses on integrating ANELLO’s photonics-based inertial navigation at the platform level to support sustained autonomous operation in contested and denied environments.”
Delta Black Aerospace designs UAS platforms for demanding operational missions, including long-endurance and long-range flight profiles. Through this collaboration, Delta Black and ANELLO will work together to optimize solutions on their platforms with the goal to improve navigation accuracy, autonomy, and mission continuity during extended operations without GPS, supporting mission sets such as ISR, contested logistics, and autonomous operations in GPS-denied airspace.
“Navigation resilience directly impacts mission effectiveness for uncrewed aircraft,” said Chrissy Edwards, CIO of Delta Black Aerospace. “Integrating ANELLO’s high-performance inertial navigation enables our platforms to maintain accurate state estimation and autonomous operation, even when GPS is unavailable or compromised,” said Jeff Lydecker, CTO of Delta Black Aerospace.