BlackNaute™

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Safran successfully demonstrates BlackNaute™ Inertial Navigation System on U.S. Army Black Hawk Following AUSA Debut

Rochester, New York – January 21, 2026 – Safran Federal Systems, a trusted U.S. Department of Defense mission partner and leader in Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (A-PNT), announced the successful flight demonstration of its BlackNaute™ Inertial Navigation System (INS) aboard a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

U.S. Army Black Hawk
Black Hawk equipped with BlackNaute™ Inertial Navigation System
BlackNaute™ INS Demonstration

Purpose-built for multi-domain operations, BlackNaute™ delivers precise navigation in GPS-denied and electronic warfare-contested environments, fulfilling a critical need for resilient, open-architecture PNT capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains.

The live flight test confirmed BlackNaute’s ability to maintain high-accuracy inertial performance without GNSS support, validating operational readiness just days after its U.S. debut at the 2025 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C.

“Our demonstration onboard the Army Black Hawk showcases the tactical readiness of BlackNaute™”,said Jon Leombrone, Executive Vice President of Navigation Systems at Safran Federal Systems. “The system maintained drift of less than 0.4 nautical miles per hour over several hours – proof of its SWaP-optimized, NAVWAR-resilient design engineered for rapid deployment across the Joint Force.”

BlackNaute™ combines multiple cutting-edge technologies in a rugged, lightweight system weighing less than 16 pounds. Key features include:

  • HRG Dual Core™ Technology: Safran’s patented hemispherical resonator gyro platform, fielded in more than 40,000 units and proven over 30 million operational hours across defense and aerospace applications.
  • M-Code Ready GNSS Receiver: Supports secure, multi-constellation satellite navigation using military-grade M-Code signals.
  • Ultra-Stable Atomic Clock: Provides highly precise timing with drift of less than one second every 30,000 years, ensuring reliable synchronization across mission systems.
  • Interference Detection and Mitigation (IDM): Built-in capabilities for detecting and mitigating GPS spoofing and jamming threats, enhancing survivability in electronic warfare environments.
  • Open Systems Architecture: Fully compliant with MIL-STD interfaces and TSO-C220 standards, enabling plug-and-play integration with modular open systems used across modern defense platforms.

Safran Federal Systems provides advanced, classified navigation and PNT solutions to Safran Defense & Space, Inc. (Safran DSI), accelerating innovation across multi-domain operations in support of U.S. defense programs.

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