Rise of the drone
Drones, otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Systems (UAV, UAS), have seen a meteoric rise over the past few years enabling a wide range of defence and commercial applications.
Their precise positioning, manoeuvrability and image capture capabilities have made them ubiquitous in ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) military & security applications, but also ideal for monitoring crops or inspecting critical infrastructure including oil & gas pipelines, off-shore wind turbines, and power lines.
They are also revolutionising responsiveness to emergencies, being able to deliver medical supplies, food and aid into inaccessible areas. And in logistics, they are making remote locations more accessible for deliveries whilst also being more energy-efficient than alternate transportation methods.
In fact, in a report from Gov.UK in 2022, commercial drones were singled out for their importance in "saving money and saving lives in the UK" with estimates that drones could contribute up to £45 billion to the UK economy.
Acutely dependent on reliable and accurate GNSS
Drones though are crucially dependent on availability of absolute realtime location from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and Galileo.
Any disruption to GNSS, either inadvertent or malicious, can degrade positional accuracy causing the drone to lose orientation, drift off course, and in the most extreme cases compromise operational control with drones literally falling from the sky as has been experienced at a number of drone light shows in the past.
In logistics, thieves are employing malicious interference to jam GNSS, forcing drones to land so they can hijack the cargo.
In defence reconnaissance applications, the situation is far more serious. Aside from the obvious security risk of losing control resulting in a crash, key tactical missions can derail at critical points, leading to loss of situational awareness, loss of valuable data, and even loss of human life.
Being able to detect and mitigate attempts to jam or spoof GNSS signals is becoming essential to UAV operations.
CRPxTM Anti-Jamming System – engineered for UAVs
Helix Geospace has bucked this trend, designing a CRPA specifically for use with drones and UAVs - a single compact unit, CRPx is lightweight, draws minimal power, and provides best-in-class GNSS accuracy and resilience, and yet comes at a price point that makes it suitable for a wide range of drone and UAV applications.
CRPx has been developed in the UK with full UK/EU/NATO supply chain provenance.
CRPx uniquely delivers resilient GNSS and high positional accuracy in a simple, compact footprint
Unrivalled Resilient GNSS
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Dual-band (L1/E1, L2/L5/E5a/M-Code)
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>50dB suppression; J/S >100dB
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In-band, adjacent band, high-power & multi-jamming scenarios (non-blocking)
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Dovetails with GNSS receiver anti-spoofing algorithms for optimum resiliency
Class-leading Positional Accuracy
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Beam forms for optimal satellite tracking
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Auto-adapts to platform motion (pitch and yaw)
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High phase stability enables use with carrier-phase GNSS (RTK)
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Combats interference from multipath and interference from other UAV electronics
Universal Compatibility & Ultra-low SWaP
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Easily integrated to UAV designs without needing any complex cabling, bespoke integration, or configuration
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Compact & lightweight (Ø120mm x 30mm; <500g)
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Ultra-low power (mean <3W; peak <5W)
- Ideal for use with UAVs
Engineered for a wide range of applications
Maritime
GNSS is critical for navigation in modern maritime operations but increasingly under threat.
Learn more
Military UxVs
Unmanned aerial and surface vehicles (UxVs) are revolutionising modern warfare but crucially dependent on resilient GNSS.
Learn more
Civil Aviation
Mitigating inadvertent GNSS interference from conflict zones is paramount to ensuring the safety of aircraft and crew.
Learn more