Advanced Navigation America is expanding its manufacturing operations in Huntsville, Alabama, as it seeks to increase U.S. production capacity for navigation technologies designed for contested environments.
The expansion follows a $110 million Series C funding round and includes a new Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Center of Excellence. The facility will research, develop and manufacture counter-Electromagnetic Warfare technologies spanning fiber optics, micro-electromechanical systems, laser sensing, photonics, vision-based systems, artificial intelligence and quantum sensing.
Advanced Navigation also plans to accelerate U.S. mergers and acquisitions as part of the expansion, bringing complementary technologies and expertise into its portfolio. The company says the investment will increase its U.S. workforce and strengthen secure, domestic capabilities supporting classified U.S. Department of War programs.
A key focus will be the production of Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG) technology. Manufacturing FOG sensors precise enough to detect the Earth’s rotation requires tight control over processes in which microscopic variations can affect performance. Advanced Navigation says it is one of a small number of companies globally able to produce strategic-grade FOGs and laser velocity sensors at scale. The technologies are intended to provide defense systems with precise positioning and motion information when GPS is jammed, spoofed or unavailable.
The Huntsville facility will bring production, calibration and validation capabilities together with engineering operations. Advanced Navigation says bringing these capabilities together will give it control from the sensor through to the finished system.
Huntsville’s established aerospace and defense sector is another factor behind the expansion. The city is home to a large engineering and STEM workforce and is located near organizations including Redstone Arsenal, the Missile Defense Agency and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, as well as the headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Advanced Navigation says the proximity will help it understand customer requirements, develop solutions and deploy technology more quickly.
The facility will form a major U.S. manufacturing node alongside Advanced Navigation’s operations in Australia and the United Kingdom, extending the company’s presence across the three AUKUS nations. According to the company, the arrangement will increase production capacity, strengthen supply-chain redundancy and support faster responses to U.S. defense requirements.
Advanced Navigation states that more than 100,000 of its systems are deployed globally. It also works with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army on future PNT requirements through programs including the All-Domain Persistent Experiment (APEX). Customers named by the company include Anduril, Kongsberg, Rheinmetall, BAE Systems, Leonardo and Lockheed Martin.
The company says the Huntsville investment will give U.S. defense customers more direct access to its navigation technologies, engineering expertise and support, backed by additional capabilities in Australia and the United Kingdom.
