NAVAIR Seeks GPS Anti-Jam Capability with Small Antenna System

The Naval Air Systems Command has tested an antenna system designed to protect unmanned aerial vehicles’ GPS technology from signal interference.

The Navy’s Communications and GPS Navigation Program Office conducted the two-week simulation of the transmitter installed on an Aerostar in cooperation with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Naval Test Wing Atlantic, NAVAIR said Thursday.

“If an enemy is trying to jam or interfere with the GPS frequency, this antenna allows us to be able to track and acquire the true GPS satellites even in the midst of this jamming and interference,” said Eric Stevens, PMW/A-170 head of unmanned aircraft systems communications and navigation.

“What we are doing is demonstrating and quantifying the value of this antenna on small UAVs,” he added.

Teams from the Maritime Unmanned Development and Operations, Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Air Systems Program Office and Naval Air Warfare Center’s Radar and Antenna Systems Department helped facilitate the test.

Donn Rushing, a project manager at MUDO, said the Aerostar with the small antenna system will be used for an Army pre-deployment exercise at Fort Polk, La., this month.