Smaller Optical Gyroscopes Navigate into Broader Markets
The RQ-4 Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman’s high-altitude remotely piloted aircraft, has a maximum takeoff weight of 32,250 lb. The platform’s massive size affords it the ability to carry a Kearfortt airborne navigation system, which includes, among its most important sensors, a monolithic ring-laser gyroscope (RLG) that weighs 4.5 lb, measures just over 81 in., and uses 15 W of power. However, the demands are growing for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are smaller, able to...
Photonics Spectra, April 2023