ANELLO Photonics has introduced the ANELLO Aerial INS, a high-performance Inertial Navigation System (INS) designed to provide reliable positioning for aerial platforms operating in challenging or contested environments.
The system is built around the company’s proprietary Silicon Photonic Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG) technology and features integrated multi-band GNSS receivers. This hardware is supported by an advanced EKF-based sensor fusion engine and algorithms specifically tuned for flight profiles. The system is intended for use in Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), maritime Vertical Take-Off Landing (VTOL) UAS, special-mission aircraft, and heavy-lift cargo drones.
A primary technical advantage of the new system is its ability to deliver less than 0.5 degrees per hour of unaided heading drift. This allows aircraft to maintain accurate navigation and control during high-dynamic maneuvers or when facing GNSS jamming, spoofing, or total signal occlusion. The navigation solution is designed to function in fully GNSS-denied environments, such as over water, in desert corridors, or during low-visibility missions involving fog or cloud cover, without the need for external cameras or fiber-optic cables.
The compact, low-power system features flight-profile-optimised algorithms and a rugged, vibration-tolerant design, enabling reliable deployment across multirotor, fixed-wing, and VTOL aerial platforms.
The unit features dual triple-frequency all-constellation GNSS receivers capable of static heading and RTK/PPP corrections. For integration, the system includes drivers for PX4 and ArduPilot flight stacks and supports standard interfaces including Ethernet, RS-232, RS-422, and CAN. It also offers an NMEA-compliant interface, allowing it to serve as a drop-in replacement for conventional GNSS receivers while providing enhanced spoofing detection and resilient holdover.
Dr. Mario Paniccia, co-founder and CEO of ANELLO Photonics, commented, “Customers flying real missions need resilient navigation when GPS isn’t reliable. By combining our SiPhOGs with our airborne-optimized sensor-fusion algorithms and integrated multi-band GNSS, the ANELLO Aerial INS delivers accurate navigation solutions in a cost-effective SWaP-friendly package. This allows UAVs to hold course through GPS jamming, multipath, spoofing, or outages using only ANELLO without the need for cameras or fiber-optic cables and allows the warfighter to complete their mission safely and successfully.”
The technology has been validated through U.S. Department of Defense operational test events, reinforcing its suitability for fixed-wing and VTOL platforms.
Dan Magy, CEO at Firestorm, added, “The ANELLO SiPhOG™ technology is a game changer for our warfighters. The ability to navigate in GPS-denied or spoofed environments without cameras or fiber-optic cables—in small, lightweight systems—are essential for future combat missions. The ANELLO team has developed an Aerial solution that seamlessly integrates into existing avionics with minimal effort. This type of capability is essential in today’s conflict areas where our adversaries actively disrupt GPS, making ANELLO a powerful upgrade for all modern aerial platforms.”
The ANELLO Aerial INS is currently available for evaluation, with full production shipments scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2026.
