Advanced Navigation Hits Major Milestone With LVS Positioning System

Australia’s Advanced Navigation has catapulted positioning system capabilities to new heights with its novel Laser Velocity Sensor (LVS). At the Avalon Australian International Airshow, Advanced Navigation showcased its findings from its recent LVS experiment. Several tests identified that it could track the 3D velocity relative positioning of a vehicle with unparalleled precision. 

Retired US General, and key strategy advisor and investor in Advanced Navigation, David H. Petraeus, took to LinkedIn to say: “Congratulations to all at Advanced Navigation on these impressive results! (It is a privilege to be both one of your investors and one of your strategic advisors!) It is clear that Australia’s world-leading innovation in APNT should be a focus area for AUKUS Pillar 2 and broader defense tech cooperation between Canberra and Washington.”

Evaluating Advanced Navigation’s Laser Velocity Sensor

Currently, the LVS is a “novel advancement in resilient navigation”, Advanced Navigation said, with plans to roll the system out to commercial markets in the coming months and years. But before doing so, the team had to validate the laser’s capabilities. 

As such, engineers at Advanced Navigation mounted one of their “pre-production LVS with [a] BoreasD90 fiber-optic gyroscope INS.” Thereafter, they performed several test drives to validate the LVS’ precision. Through the infrared lasers, Advanced Navigation were able to measure a vehicle’s 3D velocity ground relativity. The testing was performed in “GPS denied conditions”. 

Final LVS Performance After Testing Was Performed

The outcome saw a very minor error rate: 0.043% error per distance. Once they attached the LVS to a fixed-wing aircraft and performed a test flight over 545 km, they saw a decreased error rate of 0.045%. Ultimately, the final score was a result of the LVS’s unprecedented capabilities coupled with a “tactical-grade inertial navigation system.” Advanced Navigation concluded: “These results are a leap forward in navigation science, proving LVS as a powerful enabler for autonomy and operations in GPS-contested environments.”

LVS On The Battlefield

One area where LVS will have ubiquitous applicability is warfare. General Petraeus noted that the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for greater navigation positioning in GPS dead zones, as well as GNSS contested environments. A UK Parliamentary report identified that electromagnetic warfare (EW) is a common feature in jamming and disrupting navigation systems. This has been actively applied to the war in Ukraine. As such, Advanced Navigation’s LVS could be the answer to solving this issue. General Petraeus outlined: “[LVS] will be an indispensable enabler on the battlefields of the future.” 

LVS And AUKUS: Opportunity Or Obstacle?

Another aspect of LVS could be its use in the AUKUS pillars. General Petraeus believes there could be “broader defence tech cooperation between Canberra and Washington”. However, could this be stagnated by President Trump’s recent tariff rollout? Much to Prime Minister Albanese’s dismay, President Trump placed a 10% tariff on Australian goods imported into the US, which sparked outrage in Canberra. 

Talking to Australia’s government-funded news outlet, the ABC, Adam Bandt, the leader of one of Australia’s major political parties, the Greens, joined others in the call to abandon AUKUS entirely. He said billions of dollars could be wasted on submarines that may never arrive. As a result, the use of LVS in US warfighter tactics and AUKUS could fall to the political furore currently taking place. There are currently no plans to ditch the AUKUS deal, but if political unrest continues, this could become a reality.  

Political parties, the Greens, joined others in the call to abandon AUKUS entirely. He said billions of dollars could be wasted on submarines that may never arrive. As a result, the use of LVS in US warfighter tactics and AUKUS could fall to the political furore currently taking place. There are currently no plans to ditch the AUKUS deal, but if political unrest continues, this could become a reality.