AUSTRALIAN ARMY M113’s TO BE UPGRADED WITH STATE-OF-ART NAVIGATION SYSTEM

A new navigation system will provide the Army’s fleet of M113 armoured personnel carriers with an unprecedented capability which also is expected to benefit Australian industry.

The Defence Materiel Organisation recently contracted Honeywell Germany to supply the new TALIN 500 Inertial Navigation Unit for the M113 vehicles at a cost of $11 million.

The TALIN 500 has been designed and built by Honeywell Germany to meet the requirement for an inertial navigation unit at a cost and specification appropriate for armoured vehicles.

Acquired under Project JP5408, the TALIN 500 is the central component of a navigation system for the M113 armoured vehicles being upgraded by prime contractor Tenix Defence under Project Land 106.

The new system integrates a global positioning system (GPS) and the inertial navigation functions which will enable the M113 to navigate effectively and accurately in all environments, including regions where GPS is unavailable due to terrain masking or enemy jamming. The new system will provide full navigation capability to both the commander and driver of the M113.

Australian industry will play an important role in the project, developing and supplying system components including the screens, data entry devices and the turret azimuth encoder, a device to measure the direction the turret is pointing.

As Australia is one of the first nations to invest in this technology, significant export potential is expected.

Installation of the navigation units in the M113 vehicles is expected to commence in 2007.

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