US Air Force to fast-track capability development for GPS-denied operations
A C-17 Globemaster III flies over the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo: US Air Force)
Over the next 18 months, the air force’s research facility intends to accelerate the progress of resilient, autonomous solutions to support aircraft and helicopter deployments in DDIL overland and over-the-water scenarios.
The US Air Force (USAF) Research Laboratory (AFRL) plans to accelerate the development of autonomous, long-range, resilient navigation capabilities over the next 18 months to improve the operation of aircraft and helicopters in overland and maritime GPS-denied, degraded, intermittent and limited (GPS-DDIL) environments.
Under the Tracking & Resilient Inertial-Derived Estimation for Naval Targets (TRIDENT) programme, the AFRL intends to conduct test flights and experimentation with rotary- and fixed-wing platforms in diverse conditions to collect data and inform the maturation of future solutions and technologies.
As part of this effort, the service awarded a US$2 million Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) contract
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