GPS World

Tag: military exercise

  • Elistair’s Khronos Tethered DroneBox takes part in France’s largest joint military exercise

    Elistair’s Khronos Tethered DroneBox takes part in France’s largest joint military exercise

    Elistair, manufacturer of tethered drones for security applications, participated in Orion 2026, France’s most ambitious joint military exercise in decades. In the exercise, Elistair contributed its Khronos automated tethered DroneBox, used for ISR and tactical communications missions.

    Running from February to April, ORION 2026 mobilized up to 12,500 military personnel across the country in a high-intensity, multi-domain scenario involving land, sea, air, space, cyber and electromagnetic domains. More than 1,200 drones of all types were deployed throughout the exercise.

    Elistair participated in Phase O4 (April 7–30) following its fisrt contribution during Phase O2 in February, which demonstrated France’s ability to fully integrate into a NATO command structure for collective defense scenario. During the week of April 27, forces conducted offensive exploitation operations, river crossings, retaking of key positions, and live-fire exercises.

    The Khronos system

    Forces need real-time situational awareness in contested and GNSS-denied environments. The Khronos system provides continuous aerial surveillance from fixed or mobile platforms. It does not depend on GNSS, radio frequency infrastructure, or battery-limited free-flying aircraft.

    Khronos deploys from a transportable DroneBox in under two minutes. The system can deliver continuous day and night imagery for up to 24 hours, making it a “pocket watchtower” for tactical units.

    The tethered drone operates in GPS- and RF-denied conditions through a secured tether and advanced positioning system. Elistair targets armed forces, law enforcement, civil security agencies, and private security operators in more than 70 countries. The company runs operations from France and North Carolina.

  • RIMPAC 2022 maritime exercise to use Vigilant’s FlightHorizon for UAS

    RIMPAC 2022 maritime exercise to use Vigilant’s FlightHorizon for UAS

    A demonstration airspace management system is playing a role during the military exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, taking place in Hawaii and Southern California.

    FlightHorizon COMMANDER, provided by Vigilant Aerospace to the U.S. Air Force, is an airspace management and detect-and-avoid system based on two licensed NASA patents. The system can be used on the ground or onboard aircraft and is designed to help keep unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or drones) safe and collision free.

    For the first time, U.S. Air Force MQ-9 UAS — also known as a Reaper — is taking part in a RIMPAC exercise. RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, involving more than 40 ships, 30 UAS and 150 aircraft from 27 partner nations.

    RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971. The 2022 exercise takes place from late June to early August.

    The FlightHorizon COMMANDER demonstration system (non-U.S. Air Force) tracks air traffic in Hawaii in 2022. (Photo: Vigilant Aerospace)
    The FlightHorizon COMMANDER demonstration system (non-U.S. Air Force) tracks air traffic in Hawaii in 2022. (Photo: Vigilant Aerospace)

    FlightHorizon COMMANDER includes a 3D moving map display for air traffic situational awareness, air navigation charts, weather data, special features for the tracking and safety of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and automatic detect-and-avoid functions.

    The airspace management system correlates and displays air traffic and other data from a wide variety of sources including ground-based and airborne sensors, civilian air traffic data, military data and proprietary data sources. The dual-use technology provides automatic traffic warnings and deconfliction as a built-in function.

    The product is based on two licensed NASA patents and has been used in ongoing NASA supersonic projects, in FAA detect-and-avoid projects, and in civilian UAS projects around flight corridors and drone ports.

    “RIMPAC 2022 marks the first appearance of the MQ-9A Reaper, a remotely piloted aircraft, and its presence brought in military teams from California, New Mexico and Nevada,” the Air Force stated. “With personnel from both the active-duty element, Reserves and Air National Guard, the collective group ensures that it is fully operational. All the while, everyone learns new techniques that it will take to improve their day-to-day operations upon returning home.”

    “Vigilant Aerospace is thrilled to support this large-scale exercise,” said Kraettli L. Epperson, CEO of Vigilant Aerospace. “Support of this exercise is an especially useful demonstration of the multi-sensor and multi-data source capabilities of FlightHorizon and the ability to track hundreds of targets simultaneously.”

    Vigilant Aerospace holds a U.S. Department of Defense IDIQ to support military adoption of the system for UAS and airspace safety.

  • Norway, Finland suspect Russia of jamming GPS

    Norway, Finland suspect Russia of jamming GPS

    Photo: NATO/Espen Hofoss, Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt
    Photo: NATO/Espen Hofoss, Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt

    NATO conducted its largest military exercise since the Cold War in the frigid waters and icy mountains of Norway Oct. 25-Nov. 7.

    During the final days of the Trident Juncture exercise, GPS signals guiding ships, aircraft, tanks, trucks and troops began to fail. Tracking screens flickered and positions were suddenly wrong from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.

    Civilian airliners, cars, trucks, cargo ships and smartphones operating in and around Norway and Finland experienced similar disruptions. Norway-based airline Wideroe told The Barents Observer that its pilots were reporting the loss of GPS signals when flying to airports in northern Norway and Finland. Airfields affected ranged from Kirkenes, on Norway’s border with Russia, to Lyngen in Troms, much further west.

    Russia is the chief suspect of jamming the signals in reaction to the massive size and proximity of the military exercises. Russia also has recently conducted massive military exercises in the Baltics.

    “It is possible that Russia has been the disrupting party in this,” Finland’s Prime Minster Juha Sipila told local media. “Russia is known to possess such capabilities.”

    Trident Juncture involved all 29 NATO alliance members. Neutral Sweden and Finland also took part amid growing uncertainty over Russia’s ambitions in the tense region.