Sagem (Safran) has won the contract from OSI Maritime Systems Ltd. against an international field of bidders, to provide the inertial navigation systems for the Royal Canadian Navy's six Harry DeWolf class offshore patrol vessels.

Each of these arctic patrol boats will be outfitted with two BlueNaute® attitude and heading systems from Sagem.

The new-generation BlueNaute® system is based on a proprietary Sagem technology, the hemispherical resonator gyro (HRG). Initially used for space applications, this technology offer a major improvement in terms of maintenance and total cost of ownership compared with previous generation navigation systems.

The BlueNaute® system is capable of operating in the harshest environments, which means that it is ideally suited for the long-duration missions in arctic zones – up to four months - assigned to these Canadian patrol boats. The system is highly reliable, featuring mean time between failures (MTBF) exceeding 100,000 hours. It also provides services that fully match commercial shipping needs, in compliance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization and the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) treaty.

This latest contract consolidates Sagem's success in the inertial navigation market for offshore vessels: the US Coast Guard had already selected the BlueNaute® system in 2015 to modernize its Reliance class medium-endurance cutters and the Juniper class seagoing buoy tenders.

The BlueNaute® system is produced in Sagem's plant in Montluçon, in the Auvergne region of south-central France.

The Henri DeWolf class offshore patrol boat, previously known as the Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel, is part of Canada's national icebreaker vessel replacement program. Commissioning is now scheduled to start in 2018. The ship is 103 meters long (340 ft) and displaces about 6,300 metric tons.

A world leader in navigation systems and equipment, Sagem understands and applies all inertial technologies: mechanical, laser, fiber-optic, vibrating, MEMS. It has over 60 years of experience in making navigation systems for civil and military applications, deployed worldwide.

Sagem, a high-tech company of Safran, holds world or European leadership positions in optronics, avionics, electronics and safety-critical software for both civil and military markets.

Sagem is the No. 1 company in Europe and No. 3 worldwide for inertial navigation systems (INS) used in air, land and naval applications. It is also the world leader in helicopter flight controls and the European leader in optronics and tactical UAV systems. Operating across the globe through the Safran group, Sagem and its subsidiaries employ 7,600 people in Europe, Pacific Asia, North America and South America. Sagem is the commercial name of the company Sagem Défense Sécurité.