Advanced Navigation’s new PNT centre will add to its Australian deep-tech capabilities.
Australian company Advanced Navigation has announced an expansion of its manufacturing capability into the USA, via the establishment of a positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) Centre of Excellence in Huntsville, Alabama.
The expansion adds to the company’s existing manufacturing and R&D capabilities across NSW, WA and the ACT, which will remain the company’s core technology and manufacturing hubs.
The new PNT Centre of Excellence will allow specific components, systems and builds to be produced on U.S. soil where required for security, classified programs or customer requirements.
“Advanced Navigation was built in Australia, and [it] remains at the heart of our technology, engineering and manufacturing capability,” said Chris Shaw, CEO and co-founder of Advanced Navigation.
“Expanding into the United States allows us to take that capability directly into one of the world’s largest defence and heavy industry markets.
“It gives us additional capacity to support US programs while continuing to invest in the advanced manufacturing and R&D capability we have built here in Australia.”
Establishing dedicated manufacturing in the USA
The company has made a name for itself through its fibre-optic gyroscope (FOG) inertial navigation systems (INS), which already have been or are being deployed in the defence, mining, aerospace, marine and autonomous systems sectors.
The manufacture of FOG sensors precise enough to detect the Earth’s rotation requires engineering at a level similar to semiconductor fabrication, where even microscopic variations can affect performance.
Advanced Navigation is one of a few companies globally with the capability to produce strategic-grade FOGs and laser velocity sensors at scale.
“With technology this precise, you can’t separate engineering from manufacturing,” said Chuck Matheny, Vice President of U.S. Operations at Advanced Navigation America.
“Production, calibration and validation all have to work together. The capability developed in Australia gives us a strong foundation to build from as we establish dedicated manufacturing in Huntsville and respond to the specific requirements of US defence programs.”
Taking Australian deep-tech to the world
The new Huntsville PNT Centre of Excellence will focus on advanced manufacturing, adding dedicated US production capacity alongside the company’s Australian operations.
The facility will support the production of technologies spanning fibre optics, MEMS and photonics, while enabling Advanced Navigation to undertake US-based production where required for sensitive and classified defence programs or customer requirements.
“Our investment in Huntsville is an extension of what we have built in Australia, not a replacement for it,” said Shaw.
“This is about an Aussie deep-tech company taking its technology and manufacturing capability into one of the world’s largest defence and heavy industry markets, while continuing to invest, innovate and manufacture here at home.”
