As a world leader in Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions, Orolia is launching a world-first in aviation safety technology. The new Kannad Ultima-S Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) for commercial aircraft or life raft is the first ELT capable of notifying the crew about the launch of a Search and Rescue operation via Galileo Return Link Service (RLS).

The Kannad Ultima-S ELT was developed under a two-year contract through the European GNSS Agency’s Tauceti Project. Some of the key features include:

• Certified to the new lithium battery regulations to avoid the risk of battery fires.
• A multi-GNSS receiver to accept multiple signals such as GPS, Galileo, etc. to detect the aircraft’s location faster and deploy rescue teams sooner than ever before.
• Dual activation modes: manually or automatically upon contact with water.
• A Return Link Service (RLS) option to notify the crew that the distress signal has been received and help is on the way (available on Galileo).
• Multiple configurations are available to install in aircraft cabins and life rafts. With a rugged, compact, and easy to install form factor, both versions can be easily installed through a carry-off bag or a mounting bracket and require little storage room.

Oriola states it is “dedicated to making air travel even safer than it is today with resilient positioning and aircraft location technology” and “Passengers can rely on Kannad Ultima-S to be located accurately and rescued as quickly as possible in case an aircraft evacuation is needed.”

Christian Belleux, Aviation Product Line Director at Orolia added: “We are excited to present aircraft operators with an affordable, reliable and state of the art ELT solution for cabin modifications or linefit installations.”

The Kannad Ultima-S survival distress beacons complement Orolia’s Ultima family of next-generation ELTs, such as the Ultima-DT. For more information, visit the Orolia website.