GPS World, January 2013
Industry news and developments GPS Galileo GLONASS BUSINESS thE GooGle earth depiction of the USAF LocataNet test bed deployed at the White Sands Missile Range Locata Tests Lead to Air Force Contract The U S Air Force USAF signed a solesource multi year multi million dollar contract with Locata Corporation to install a ground based LocataNet positioning system at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico The USAF will field Locatas technology for reference truth positioning across a large area of White Sands when GPS is being completely jammed In a recent USAF technical report the need for a new non GPS based positioning capability was described by the 746th Test Squadron as the key component for the realization of the new gold standard truth system for the increasingly demanding test and evaluation of future navigation systems for the U S Department of Defense The Air Force has now contracted with Locata to provide this capability for the USAFs future truth reference the Ultra High Accuracy Reference System UHARS The report documented extensive testing of a LocataNet covering 1350 square miles 3500 square kilometers deployed at White Sands The USAF and the 746th Test Squadron proved a LocataNet can accurately position USAF aircraft over a large area when GPS is denied Locata delivered accurate independent positioning as good as or better than the USAFs current CIGTF Reference System CRS The Locata non GPS based positioning capability is core to the UHARS that will replace the CRS in 2014 After aircraft testing the USAF concluded that the Locata system had not only met the demanding contractual tracking and positioning requirements but actually exceeded them on many points Some of the milestones documented by the USAF included LocataNet position accuracy of 25 inches 6 centimeters horizontally and 6 inches 15 cm vertically for aircraft flying at a distance of 30 miles 50km at up to 350 mph 550 km hr at 25000 feet without GPS Throughout the period of the testing the entire White Sands network achieved nanosecondaccurate synchronization within several minutes of the LocataNet being activated and remained synchronized even during severe weather until turned off at the end of each test By attaching a simple10 watt amplifier the USAF proved that Locata signals could be acquired and tracked by aircraft at distances Continued on page 30 www gpsworld com January 2013 GPS World 29
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