Inertial navigation: inertial instrument system integration, broad application prospects in the military and civilian fields
Inertial navigation is one of inertial system integration with inertial instrumentation as its core. In the field of inertial technology, from the technical level, it is divided into two levels of inertial instrument and inertial system. The inertial instrument mainly includes gyroscope for measuring angular motion and accelerometer for measuring line motion; inertial system is based on inertial instrument. Inertial measurement, inertial navigation and stability control systems realized by integrated technology, among which inertial navigation applications are the most extensive.
The downstream application areas include military and civilian use. The military market is basically occupied by domestic military enterprises, and private enterprises are concentrated in the civilian market. In the military field, inertial navigation systems are used in ships, aerospace vehicles, space shuttles, guided weapons, land vehicles, robots and other equipment. The civilian market includes geodesy, oil drilling, electronic transportation, automotive safety, consumer electronics and other fields, of which MEMS inertial sensors are the most widely used in the consumer market.
Gyroscopes and accelerometers are the core components of inertial navigation systems
The core devices of the inertial navigation system are gyroscopes and accelerometers. Usually, each inertial measurement device consists of three sets of gyroscopes and accelerometers, which measure the angular acceleration and linear acceleration of three degrees of freedom, respectively. By integrating the acceleration and the initial velocity and position, the object is in spatial position. The direction and speed of motion, combined with the trajectory setting in the inertial navigation system, corrects the heading and speed to achieve navigation.
According to different application scenarios and precision requirements, the gyro instruments required for inertial navigation can be divided into strategic level, navigation level, tactical level and commercial level (consumer level): 1. Strategic application scenarios focus on aerospace and navigation; Navigational application scenarios are mostly various types of missile weapons; 3. Tactical-level application scenarios include ground-mounted weapons and aircraft; 4. Commercial-grade application scenarios are for civilian use.
The development of gyro instruments has gone through four stages, showing a trend of high precision, miniaturization and reliability. The first three stages of gyroscope development are the era of electromechanical gyroscopes; after the 1970s, with the application of optics and microelectronics in the field of gyroscopes, optical gyroscopes based on different measurement principles (laser gyroscopes and fiber optic gyroscopes) ) and MEMS gyroscopes came into being, and developed better electrostatic gyroscopes in the field of electromechanical gyroscopes.
Global market structure: the United States is in an absolute leading position, China is still the third echelon
The development of global inertial technology is divided into four levels. At present, China is at the third level and has some research and development capabilities. According to the statistics of the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Defense divides the countries engaged in research and development in the field of inertial technology into four levels: the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, which are at the first level, fully capable of independently researching and developing inertial technology capabilities; The second level is Russia, Germany, Israel and Japan, which have most of the independent research and development capabilities; the third level is China, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, with some research and development capabilities; the fourth level is South Korea, India. Brazil, North Korea, Switzerland, Italy, etc., have relatively limited inertial technology research and development capabilities.
Domestic industrial chain pattern: military enterprises have core sensor manufacturing capabilities, and private enterprises participate in midstream system integration.
The inertial navigation industry chain is mainly divided into two levels: device manufacturing, module assembly and software design. In the upstream of the industrial chain, the components of the inertial navigation system mainly include electronic components, inertial components and other reference information equipment; the main products in the midstream of the industry chain include information acquisition and processing modules, measurement unit modules and satellite attitude measurement modules, and systems for each module. Integration and software design.
Domestic research and manufacturing capabilities with inertial sensors are concentrated in military industrial enterprises, and private enterprises are mainly involved in the design and manufacture of midstream inertial navigation systems. At present, the companies with inertial sensor manufacturing capabilities include AVIC 618, Aerospace 33, Aerospace XIII, Aerospace Electronics, and Neiwei Technology, mostly military enterprises. Enterprises with inertial navigation system manufacturing capabilities include 33 aerospace, 13 aerospace, 164 in China Airlines, aerospace electronics, aerospace 704, Naiwei Technology, Xi'an Chenxi, Zhongxing Measurement and Control and Xingwang Yuda Etc., private enterprises are mostly concentrated on the design and manufacture of midstream inertial navigation systems.
Downstream market: military weapons and equipment are widely used, and the civil field is rich in scenes.
Inertial navigation systems are used in all types of weaponry. In military aircraft, precision guided weapons, ground armored vehicles, naval vessels and other weapons and equipment, inertial navigation is an indispensable navigation system, breaking the limitation of satellite positioning system due to weather, geographical location and other factors. All-weather, all-terrain self-service navigation to meet the operational needs of all types of weapons and equipment in complex battlefield environments. There are many application scenarios in the civil field. The civil market has a rich demand for inertial navigation systems, mainly in the fields of oil exploration, mobile communications, high-speed railways, civil aircraft, drones, consumer electronics and automobiles.
Investment Analysis: The market size of military INS is over 10 billion, and the industrial structure of division of labor is concentrated.
The market for military inertial navigation is about 11.3 billion yuan - 15.5 billion yuan. In the military field of aerospace, aviation, ships and tanks, the inertial market is basically monopolized by major military enterprises or institutions. Using top-down calculation methods, we estimate the scale of business income of each enterprise or institution. It is estimated that the overall size of China's military inertial navigation market will be about 15.5 billion yuan in 2017. At the same time, based on the bottom-up calculation method, we estimate the scale of various application scenarios of inertial navigation in the military field according to the equipment construction. The overall size of the inertial navigation market is about 11.3 billion yuan. We believe that China's investment in the field of national defense information has been increasing, surpassing the average growth rate of military expenditures and equipment construction investment. At the same time, China's inertial navigation technology still has a large room for development, and the future military inertial navigation market is expected to expand further. The concentrated industrial structure will bring the relevant enterprises together to benefit.