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Civitanavi’s PETRA Line Delivers Trusted Navigation for Ground Combat Vehicles
Civitanavi’s PETRA Line Delivers Trusted Navigation for Ground Combat Vehicles
When GPS isn’t available, navigation can’t fail. Vision Aided Navigation combines onboard cameras and inertial systems to deliver resilient, precise positioning in contested and GNSS denied environments—offering a glimpse into the future of aviation navigation.
What You Will Learn in This Article
- How Civitanavi’s PETRA navigation systems deliver resilient, aircraft-grade positioning, attitude and timing for ground combat vehicles operating in GNSS-denied or contested environments.
- Why the integration of GNSS and advanced inertial technologies—such as interferometric fiber‑optic gyroscopes—is critical for mission continuity, fire-control accuracy and situational awareness.
- How PETRA supports modern land warfare priorities, including vehicle maneuvering, weapons and sensor alignment, formation coordination and seamless command-and-control integration.
Civitanavi’s PETRA Line Delivers Trusted Navigation for Ground Combat Vehicles
Modern military land vehicle operations demand absolute confidence in navigation even when global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals are jammed, spoofed or unavailable.
Civitanavi Systems brings the same navigation technologies aircraft rely on to stay on course down to earth with its PETRA line of advanced systems, designed to meet the demanding needs of ground combat vehicles.
Derived from the Greek word for “rock,” PETRA reflects a solid, reliable foundation for navigation where it matters most: on the battlefield.
“PETRA provides continuous position, velocity, attitude and timing data so operators and onboard systems can execute missions even when external signals can’t be trusted,” said Massimo Verola, Co-Chief of Staff for Engineering and Production at Civitanavi Systems, part of Honeywell Aerospace since 2024.
Founded in Italy in 2012, Civitanavi has its headquarters and main production site in Pedaso on the Adriatic coast. Civitanavi uses commercial off-the-shelf components to manufacture its products, which can be sold internationally without United States export restrictions.
PETRA Products Blend GNSS and INS Capabilities
For PETRA, Civitanavi integrates GNSS and inertial navigation system (INS) technologies to deliver continuous, high-confidence position, velocity and attitude data. The GNSS/INS uses satellite updates to correct INS drift when satellite signals are available and seamlessly transitions to precision inertial sensing when they’re not.
“Being true solid-state sensors, our interferometric fiber-optic gyroscopes (iFOGs) provide exceptionally stable and precise angular-rate sensing without moving parts,” Verola explained.
“iFOGs are well-suited for ground navigation applications because they are rugged and resistant to shock, vibration and electromagnetic interference. With PETRA products, our military customers have navigation, pointing and alignment data they can trust, even when the going gets rough.”
Fiber-optic gyros deliver exceptional stability and low drift, enabling accurate position, velocity and attitude determination independent of satellites. When combined with other onboard aids as part of a layered navigation architecture, PETRA systems help land vehicles maintain trusted navigation, improve fire-control accuracy and sustain mission effectiveness in the most challenging operational environments.
"A key differentiator of PETRA is its open, standards-compliant interface, which allows the inertial sensor to seamlessly interact with other onboard systems. The system measures motion, acceleration, rotation and position on the ground and feeds the data to the vehicle’s computer, fire-control system and other onboard systems."
— Massimo Verola, Co-Chief of Staff for Engineering and Production
at Civitanavi Systems, Honeywell Aerospace
Checking the Boxes for Operational Priorities
Various infantry fighting vehicles, fire-support platforms and mobile radar systems use PETRA products. They include the Italian Army’s VBM Freccia infantry fighting vehicle, designed to transport troops while providing direct combat support; the Centauro II wheeled fire-support vehicle, which delivers tank-level firepower with high mobility; and KRONOS, Leonardo’s advanced mobile radar used to detect and track missiles and drones.
For each ground combat platform, PETRA provides trusted position, velocity, attitude, and timing (PVT) data, enabling precise vehicle maneuvering, accurate sensor and weapon alignment, and seamless integration with command‑and‑control (C2) networks. This self‑contained inertial navigation solution ensures resilient military navigation performance in GNSS‑denied and electronically contested operational environments.
Now, more than ever, land warfare requires resilient navigation to support critical mission performance. Key considerations include the ability to provide:
✓ Provide accurate position, velocity and heading data to enable the vehicle to move at full speed, avoid threats, navigate complex terrain and reposition quickly under fire when GNSS signals are jammed or spoofed.
✓ Weapons and sensor alignment for fire-control systems, targeting and queueing, which depend on precise navigation and attitude data. Even small errors can translate into missed targets or delayed engagements.
✓ Formation and coordination of data, because vehicles rarely operate alone. Reliable navigation enables synchronized movement across platoons and battalions, supports joint operations with air and unmanned assets and maintains alignment with command-and-control networks.
✓ Situational awareness and data sharing to provide trusted position and timing for everything from blue-force tracking to sensor fusion and battlefield networking, allowing commanders to make faster, better-informed decisions.
✓ Operations in GNSS-denied environments that degrade satellite navigation, making self-contained inertial capability essential.
According to Verola, “In an era of contested environments and disrupted satellite signals, resilient navigation is not an option. It’s mission-critical. With PETRA, Civitanavi Systems and Honeywell are bringing aircraft-grade inertial performance to the ground, helping modern combat vehicles maneuver, coordinate and fight with confidence when it matters most.”
Contact Civitanavi to learn how PETRA can support mission success in GNSS-denied environments.
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