Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit unveiled a new-technology satellite-based ship heading sensor at the Nor-Shipping marine exposition held June 3-6 in Lillestrøm, Norway.

The NAVISTAR satellite compass integrates inputs from embedded sensors and GPS signals to provide a reliable, low-cost geographic-north oriented heading reference.

The compact, low-cost system is intended to provide a viable alternative to spinning-mass or fiber-optic gyrocompasses for workboats, commercial fishing vessels, large private yachts, naval patrol boats and small merchant ships, which are not required to be equipped with a gyrocompass.

Using advanced inertial algorithms, the "hybrid" satellite compass system processes information from dual high-precision GPS receivers, together with data from three integrated turn rate sensors, three accelerometers and a three-axis magnetic field sensor, to produce a stable and reliable heading reference. In addition, the system provides rate of turn, roll, pitch, speed and GPS position outputs in standard maritime message formats. All output data can be interfaced to a wide variety of navigation equipment, including repeaters, radars, autopilots, chart plotters, scanning sonars, automatic identification systems, voyage data recorders and steerable antenna arrays.

The system's integrated heading monitor continually checks the GPS solution against the magnetic heading sensor. In case of degradation or loss of GPS signals, an alarm sounds and the system automatically defaults to the magnetic compass for uninterrupted navigation.

The Sperry Marine transmitting heading device, which meets ISO/CD 22090-3 specifications, has no moving parts and is virtually maintenance free. It runs on
9-36 VDC power and has very low power consumption. Consisting of a dual GPS antenna unit, compact processing unit and control and display unit, the system can be easily fitted on existing as well as new vessels.

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., is part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. The business unit provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries, and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense and commercial electronic systems including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.