Vard picks iXblue navigation technology for Jan Mayen class
New generation of offshore patrol ships for the Norwegian Coast Guard will feature fibre optic gyroscope-based inertial navigation systems and other technologies from iXblue.
The three new Jan Mayen-class offshore patrol vessels for the Norwegian Coast Guard will be equipped with navigation technology from iXblue, the French company announced on 26 January.
Marins-series inertial navigation systems (INS), Quadrans gyrocompasses and the Netans Navigation Data Distribution & Computation System (NDDCS) are being supplied under a subcontract from Vard Group.
The value of this deal was undisclosed.
Regis Blomme, iXblue sales director, noted that the Arctic is a ‘very challenging environment’ but he insisted that the fibre optic gyroscope-based INS and Netans NDDCS ‘have already proven to offer highly accurate, resilient, and secure navigation in such Northern latitudes’.
Tasked with securing the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone, the three new vessels will be delivered in 2022-2024 to replace ageing Nordkapp-class ships which entered service in the 1980s.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that the vessels have been procured under the P6615 programme and a construction contract worth NOK5.2 billion ($577 million) was signed with Vard shipyard in June 2018.
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