An all-French consortium will equip each of the French Navy’s three amphibious assault ships with a new inertial navigation system (INS).
The three Mistral-class amphibious helicopter carriers (PHAs) — Mistral, Tonnerre and Dixmude — will be fitted with the new system, designed to help the warships navigate safely in electronically contested environments.
The system being used is Thales’ TopAxyz INS and the work will be jointly carried out by CNN MCO, Thales and CS GROUP, as per a recent Thales press statement.
The INS uses onboard accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure a ship’s movements and calculate her position, speed, and heading without relying on external signals such as GPS.
The Mistral will be the first to benefit from the new system, followed by the Dixmude and the Tonnerre. Once the Thales inertial navigation systems are integrated into the navigation modules by CS GROUP, the systems will be deployed by CNN MCO on all three ships.
The Thales statement noted: “Following tests that confirmed the performance of the chosen solution, a first deployment has just been successfully completed on board the Mistral, during its technical stop at the Toulon naval base.
“The Fleet Support Service (SSF) is leading this initiative to modernize the navigation systems of the amphibious assault ships (PHAs) and has contracted CNN MCO (a contract awarded in 2022 for a period of eight years) to carry it out.”
It added: “By equipping its PHAs with this technology, combined with capabilities for detecting decoy and jamming attempts, the Navy strengthens its ability to navigate with precision, discretion, and reliability, even in the most sensitive areas.”
The installation will form part of a wider contract, which also includes the maintenance and operational support of the force’s command and supply ship Somme.
CNN MCO and CS Group are both subsidiaries: of Equans France and Sopra Steria, respectively. The former specialises in maintenance and modernisation programmes, and the latter in navigation systems.
- You can read more details on the Thales website