iXblue Advans series navigation systems to equip Spanish Army VCR 8x8 Dragón.

French company iXblue and its Spanish representative Grafinta have signed a contract with GMV to provide critical navigation for all Spanish Army 8x8 VCR Dragón IFVs. This contract covers the delivery of over 240 Advans Series inertial navigation systems (INS), namely Ursa U5 and Vega V5, with a first batch due in early 2022.
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VCR Dragon, the future 8x8 IFV of the Spanish army (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The VCR Dragon is based on the Piranha V designed and manufactured by the Swiss company Mowag which is now a subdivision of GDELS (General Dynamics European Land System). The vehicle will be manufactured in 13 variants and the Spanish government could procure a total of 1,000 vehicles. The Piranha V has been modified with all national technologies as required by the Spanish Ministry of Defense. GMV, as the contractor of the navigation system, will integrate iXblue systems with GMV’s technology in GNSS and navigation algorithms.

Ursa U5 is the only cost-effective, north-finding, and easy to integrate INS for military land vehicles, allowing it to be fitted on an entire fleet. Vega V5, on the other hand, is a higher-performance INS designed for both navigation and pointing applications. Both INS are based on iXblue’s renowned Fiber-Optic Gyroscope technology, providing high-performance and resilient navigation everywhere, including in GNSS-denied environments.

“iXblue is honored to have both GMV and the Spanish Army’s trust for such an important program,” says Carlos Lopes, sales manager at iXblue. “Our INS will provide accurate, secure, and resilient navigation and position information to the vehicles”, Mr. Lopes adds.

With the recent selection of iXblue’s Marins Series INS and Netans Data Distribution Units (DDU) to equip the Spanish Armada’s newest F110 frigates, where GMV will integrate iXblue systems in the global frigate navigation system, the company is becoming a key player for navigation solutions in Spain. “We are humbled to be a partner of the Spanish Armed Forces in the resilient navigation domain. These successes are a source of pride for all of our teams and, we hope, the beginning of fruitful and close cooperation”, concludes Mr. Lopes.