diff --git a/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.cpp b/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b942644dd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+
+#include "NMEA.h"
+
+extern const AP_HAL::HAL &hal;
+
+/*
+  formatted print of NMEA message to an allocated string, with
+  checksum appended
+ */
+char *nmea_vaprintf(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
+{
+    va_list ap_copy;
+
+    // we print once to nullptr to get the length
+    va_copy(ap_copy, ap);
+    int len = hal.util->vsnprintf(nullptr, 0, fmt, ap_copy);
+    va_end(ap_copy);
+    if (len <= 0) {
+        // can't print this format
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+
+    // now allocate the right length, including trailer
+    char *s = (char *)malloc(len+6);
+    if (s == nullptr) {
+        // allocation failed
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+
+    if (hal.util->vsnprintf(s, len+5, fmt, ap) < len) {
+        free(s);
+        // inconsistent formatting
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+
+    // calculate the checksum
+    uint8_t cs = 0;
+    const uint8_t *b = (const uint8_t *)s+1;
+    while (*b) {
+        cs ^= *b++;
+    }
+
+    hal.util->snprintf(s+len, 6, "*%02X\r\n", (unsigned)cs);
+    return s;
+}
+
+/*
+  formatted print of NMEA message to the port, with checksum appended
+ */
+bool nmea_printf(AP_HAL::UARTDriver *uart, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+    va_list ap;
+
+    va_start(ap, fmt);
+    char *s = nmea_vaprintf(fmt, ap);
+    va_end(ap);
+    if (s == nullptr) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    size_t len = strlen(s);
+    if (uart->txspace() < len) {
+        free(s);
+        return false;
+    }
+    uart->write((const uint8_t*)s, len);
+    free(s);
+    return true;
+}
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.h b/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3207706a68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/AP_Common/NMEA.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <AP_HAL/AP_HAL.h>
+
+/*
+  formatted print of NMEA message to an allocated string, with
+  checksum appended
+ */
+char *nmea_vaprintf(const char *fmt, va_list ap);
+
+/*
+  formatted print of NMEA message to a uart, with checksum appended
+ */
+bool nmea_printf(AP_HAL::UARTDriver *uart, const char *fmt, ...);