Marines pick Rockwell Collins for sky-diving Nav

GPS World, March, 2008

The U.S. Marine Corps has selected Rockwell Collins to provide more than 3,000 ParaNav units, a helmet-mounted navigation system for parachutists, the company announced in February.

ParaNav is a personal, GPS-based, flight management system with an integrated heads-up display. It provides parachutists with accurate navigation capabilities and enhanced situational awareness, allowing them to fly to their designated landing zones, according to Rockwell Collins. The system also allows the parachutist to divert to alternate sites with the same level of accuracy, the company said.

ParaNav is designed specifically for parachutist guidance. The system consists of a lightweight battery-operated GPS pod that connects to a parachutist's helmet. An integrated, full-color display attaches directly to goggles or helmet shields, according to Rockwell Collins.

The unit also contains Wi-Fi interface for Joint Precision Airdrop System data connectivity and custom circuitry allows for dead-reckoning calculations in the event of a GPS lock failure.

The heads-up display, which attaches directly to goggles or shields, provides multiple navigation screens and data that includes altitude, ground speed, distance to landing zone, heading to landing zone, estimated time of arrival, and a glide slope incorporating wind drift. The total system weighs 0.9 kilograms.

ParaNav's test and evaluation phase included more than 100 test jumps at maximum altitudes of 28,000 feet and at temperatures of 20 degrees below zero. Rockwell Collins is participating in ongoing evaluations of the ParaNav system with potential military customers.

For an in-depth look at instrumenting paratroopers with GPS navigation, read "Stand Up, Hook Up--GO!" by Joseph Strus, Earl Blackwell, Christian Gellrich, Michael Kirkpatrick, and James Sinko, in the April 2003 issue of GPS World.