Advanced Navigation has secured a €16 million supply agreement with KONGSBERG to provide hundreds of its Boreas Fibre-Optic Gyroscope (FOG) Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) for counter-drone applications.
The deal will see Advanced Navigation’s Boreas FOG INS integrated into KONGSBERG’s PROTECTOR Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) platforms. The inertial systems provide precise positioning, orientation and heading, allowing C-UAS stations to accurately detect, track and engage aerial threats when GPS signals are jammed, spoofed or unavailable.
Manufactured in Norway, the PROTECTOR platforms will be delivered to the Polish Armaments Agency as part of a NOK 16 billion deal, approximately €1.45 billion, to protect the country against evolving air threats. The agreement follows a previous multi-million dollar deal under which Advanced Navigation supplied its Boreas D90 FOG INS for integration into KONGSBERG’s PROTECTOR RS4 platform.
Modern air defense faces challenges associated with both the cost of countering low-cost attack drones and the effects of electronic warfare. The original announcement notes that using interceptors costing millions of dollars against large numbers of inexpensive attack drones presents an economic challenge, while GPS jamming and spoofing can degrade defense systems that depend on satellite navigation to initialize, stabilize and accurately engage targets.
KONGSBERG’s PROTECTOR provides a low-cost-per-engagement C-UAS capability, while Boreas FOG INS supports continued operation when satellite navigation can no longer be trusted. Using algorithms to fuse, interpret and filter sensor data in real time, the system is able to maintain positioning under extreme physical and electronic stress.
David Leniewski, head of EMEA at Advanced Navigation, said, “As electromagnetic warfare becomes a defining feature of modern conflict, precision is no longer determined by arsenals or sensors alone. 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.“
“By providing a resilient source of positioning, orientation and stabilisation independent of satellite navigation, Boreas enables PROTECTOR to maintain accurate sensor alignment and target engagement under conditions that would degrade conventional navigation systems. It ensures operators retain confidence in every engagement, even in the most heavily contested electromagnetic environments.”
Leniewski added, “Together, PROTECTOR and Boreas deliver a layered C-UAS capability that is both economically sustainable and operationally resilient. One provides the proven kinetic effect; the other ensures that effect can still be delivered when the battlespace is actively trying to deny it.“
KONGSBERG PROTECTOR systems equipped with Advanced Navigation technology are currently deployed across infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, naval vessels and uncrewed ground vehicles. The agreement is supported by the Australian Department of Defence’s Global Supply Chain Program.
Jørgen Andreas Bull, senior vice president, land systems, KONGSBERG, commented, “Modern threats do not observe fixed boundaries, and countering them requires a fundamental evolution in platform survivability.”
He continued, “By integrating Advanced Navigation’s inertial navigation technology into our PROTECTOR C-UAS platforms, we are providing forces with a resilient capability that continues when GPS is denied. Whether protecting tactical land convoys from asymmetric attack, safeguarding critical airfields, or defending coastal naval assets against uncrewed swarms, this partnership delivers the reliable, multi-spectrum resilience modern forces demand.”
According to Leniewski, Advanced Navigation’s vertically integrated production facilities enable internal component sourcing, environmental stress-testing and simulated electronic warfare validation before delivery. He said this approach supports rapid, high-volume production and delivery as European defense ministries work to meet urgent procurement schedules.
