The trial, conducted in June 2026 across multiple UK sites with support from QinetiQ, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the Royal Navy experimentation vessel XV Patrick Blackett, paired Saab’s Giraffe 1X radar with Aquark’s AQlock cold-atom quantum clock. Multiple radars operating at separate locations tracked live targets while relying solely on independent AQlock timing references rather than GPS.

Distributed radar networks depend on timing precision to within billionths of a second to fuse tracking data from separated sensors into a single accurate picture; an error in timing translates directly into an error in target position. GNSS normally supplies that reference, but its signals are vulnerable to jamming and spoofing in contested environments.

To test resilience, the team introduced controlled timing errors simulating GNSS spoofing and denial. According to Saab, the radars continued generating a single air picture throughout, showing predictable performance degradation during the disruption and rapid recovery once synchronization was restored. DSTL functioned as network rebroadcast nodes to distribute the AQlock timing signals across the radar sites.

Saab said it believes the trial to be the first demonstration of a distributed high-performance military radar network maintaining a coherent operational picture using independent quantum timing sources.

“This trial is a great example of how collaboration can accelerate innovation. By combining quantum timing technology with Saab’s advanced Giraffe 1X radar system, we have demonstrated a practical capability that could help customers continue to operate effectively when it matters most,” said Andy Fraser, Group Managing Director at Saab UK.

The trial marks the third collaboration between Aquark and the Royal Navy’s DCTO, following an earlier sea trial in which the AQlock ran continuously aboard HMS Pursuer in the Solent for three days. Aquark’s work under the Royal Navy’s Quantum Optimised Radar project began in December 2025.

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Led by GMV UK, LUPIN addressed a fundamental limitation of conventional lunar navigation. Existing approaches have relied heavily on relative sensors such as inertial measurement units (IMUs) and visual odometry (VO), which provide continuous motion information but accumulate errors over time. Meanwhile, absolute fixes can depend on computationally intensive terrain matching or intermittent Earth-based tracking. Emerging lunar radio-navigation services such as the Moonlight lunar communication and navigation service (LCNS) offer the possibility of GNSS-like absolute positioning around the Moon.

LUPIN combined these capabilities in a tightly coupled multisensor architecture called ANIME. Its PNT engine uses an extended Kalman filter to fuse IMU measurements with RF-based absolute positioning, visual odometry, star-tracker attitude measurements and digital elevation model (DEM) aiding. The architecture can operate in an Earth configuration using real GNSS measurements or a Moon configuration using simulated LCNS/lunar GNSS data.

A giant leap in lunar navigation

To support realistic testing, the project developed LUSIM, a simulation environment that converts terrestrial rover trajectories into representative lunar scenarios. LUSIM generates synthetic LCNS/GNSS pseudorange, Doppler and carrier-to-noise measurements while modelling visibility, satellite geometry, signal errors and failures. This enabled the ANIME filter to be evaluated under lunar-specific RF conditions without requiring an actual lunar navigation infrastructure.

The system was tested on GMV’s RAPID rover platform. Following shakedown trials in Oxfordshire, final field testing took place in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, including daytime and nighttime operations and different rover speeds.

The results, presented at a recent ESA-hosted event, indicate the potential of the hybrid approach. Across the test campaign, the best 95th-percentile, three-dimensional position error was below 6 meters in the Earth configuration and below 8 meters in the Moon configuration. Corresponding velocity errors were below 0.1 and 0.2 m/s, respectively, while attitude errors remained below 2 degrees.

Importantly, LUPIN found that RF geometry and signal availability remain the dominant determinants of performance. Relative sensors improved continuity and robustness but did not substantially improve absolute positioning. Three RF measurements together with DEM constraints were required for stable dynamic operation.

The results suggest LCNS could provide a direct link between a rover’s local map and a global lunar reference frame, enabling longer and faster traverses with reduced operational complexity. Future work will address multi-constellation availability, differential corrections to mitigate RF signal-in-space errors, tighter integration with rover guidance, navigation and control, and potential LunaNet-compatible receiver development.

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The hub’s mandate includes developing GNSS-independent navigation technologies and spoofing detection capabilities.

“Quantum will shape the next generation of defence capabilities, and Canada must be prepared to lead—not follow,” McGuinty said. “Through the Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub, we’re bringing together Canadian researchers, innovators, industry, and government to accelerate Made-in-Canada quantum technologies into mission-ready capabilities that strengthen the operational advantage of the Canadian Armed Forces while growing Canada’s sovereign defence industrial base.”

The Quantum DISH is established under Canada’s Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science (BOREALIS), a Department of National Defence framework for connecting government, industry and academic partners on defense innovation. It joins two existing BOREALIS hubs, the Maritime DISH pilot and the Uncrewed Systems DISH, and was selected through a competitive Call for Proposals held from February 18 to April 2, 2026.

GNSS resilience among four focus areas

The hub will organize work around four areas: quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum algorithms and quantum hardware assurance. According to the Department of National Defence release, the work will support development of GNSS-independent navigation technologies, spoofing detection capabilities, quantum-secure communications and timing, decision-support tools, and testing and validation of quantum devices and systems ahead of deployment. The department said the hub is intended to reduce vulnerabilities in contested environments, including GPS spoofing, and to help maintain Canada’s technological advantage as global competition in quantum-enabled defense technology accelerates.

The consortium’s goal is to deliver validated prototypes to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Communications Security Establishment within two years.

Consortium and operation

The hub will be operated by the University of Calgary’s Quantum City initiative, under managing director Dr. Megan Lee. The 13-member consortium includes Lockheed Martin Canada, General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, CAE, Dell Canada and Calian, along with academic partners the University of Saskatchewan, University of Alberta and University of Lethbridge, with the Saskatchewan institutions supported by the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation.

“Quantum City is uniquely positioned to build the cross-sector partnerships needed to advance quantum technologies for defence,” said Dr. Megan Lee, managing director of Quantum City. “By connecting defence stakeholders with researchers, innovators and industry leaders, the Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub will accelerate the development and deployment of quantum solutions to strengthen Canada’s defence and national security capabilities.”

Quantum is designated one of Canada’s sovereign capability priorities under its Defence Industrial Strategy. The Department of National Defence said DISHs are designed to provide secure, mission-oriented environments where trusted partners can collaborate on research, testing and validation of technologies for defense and national security use, addressing what it described as a persistent gap between defense innovation and defense procurement.

Lockheed Martin Canada is among the industry partners in the consortium. “We’re incredibly proud to be a supporting partner of Canada’s Quantum Defence Innovation Secure Hub, helping accelerate the transition of quantum R&D into field-ready capabilities for our Canadian Armed Forces,” said Kristen Leroux, vice-president and regional executive, Lockheed Martin Canada and Latin America. “By combining enterprise-level engineering rigour with the speed of innovation, our Lockheed Martin Canada team is ready and energized to collaborate with our DISH partners, empowering delivery of high-impact quantum technology from the lab to the field.”

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The “Backup Solution for GNSS-Denied Navigation” project stemmed from Raysilience’s win of the Test-It prize at the 2024 T-TeC (Telespazio Technology Contest), Leonardo and Telespazio’s open innovation competition for university students and young researchers in the space sector. Raysilience was presented by a team from La Sapienza and LUISS Guido Carli Universities in Rome, proposing an autonomous navigation system for drones capable of operating where GNSS signals are absent, using a positioning method based on satellite imagery and advanced algorithms. The win came with funding for a proof of concept backed by Leonardo, which supported the project’s development and testing.

According to Leonardo, the completed system provides an alternative positioning method for GNSS-denied environments based on satellite imagery and data interpolation techniques, built as a plug-and-play backup that can be integrated across different platforms. The company said all planned deliverables were completed, validating Raysilience’s approach and demonstrating a Visual Positioning System (VPS) capable of delivering reliable positioning without GNSS. Leonardo said the results point toward broader use in UAV navigation and other scenarios where positioning continuity and resilience are required.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized Xona to broadcast the world’s first commercial navigation signal designed to operate alongside GPS from its full Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation.

The first-of-its-kind authorization comes as Xona prepares to launch its first six production satellites in October and scales manufacturing at its satellite production facility in Burlingame, California. With this authorization, Xona will become the only FFC-authorized private navigation constellation to operate next to nation-state systems from the United States, Europe, China, and Russia.

Pulsar is the first navigation system purpose-built for the demands of modern devices and infrastructure. Its signals are up to 100 times stronger than GPS, protected against spoofing through a dynamic cryptographic watermark, and designed to work with existing navigation hardware through software and firmware updates.

The new authorization expands upon the FCC license granted for Pulsar-0, Xona’s final demonstration mission and the first commercial satellite authorized to broadcast radionavigation signals in L-band spectrum alongside GPS. The new authorization expands this authorization to Xona’s planned full constellation as the company scales production at its Burlingame production facility.

“From the beginning, we were told that what we wanted to do was impossible,” said Brian Manning, Co-Founder and CEO of Xona. “A commercial company had never built a system like Pulsar, and no one had been authorized to introduce a new, high-power navigation signal alongside GPS. This decision is the culmination of years of engineering, testing and coordination, clearing the way for a capability the world increasingly needs.”

Operating alongside GPS required Xona to demonstrate that Pulsar could deliver a substantially stronger signal without interfering with the navigation and aviation services already operating in the spectrum band. The company worked extensively with the FCC, U.S. government agencies, aviation stakeholders and international governments to evaluate Pulsar’s signal performance and coordinate its operation.

Rather than avoiding those constraints by building in less established frequency bands for navigation, Xona chose the harder path: engineering Pulsar for the L-band spectrum already used by more than six billion Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-enabled devices worldwide. By broadcasting a new proprietary signal adjacent to GPS, Pulsar has demonstrated it can integrate into many existing receivers without requiring an entirely new hardware ecosystem.

“Making room for something new required us to demonstrate that we understood the importance of what was already there,” said Christina Youn, General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs at Xona. “GPS supports aviation, communications, emergency response, financial markets and countless systems people rely on every day. We did not ask regulators or the industry to take our claims on faith. We designed for coexistence, subjected that design to rigorous scrutiny, and then proved it through live transmissions from orbit.”

Since launching in June 2025, Pulsar-0 has completed more than 350 transmission passes across four continents. Its live signals have been independently tracked by more than a dozen commercial receivers, demonstrated compatibility with existing GNSS on existing navigation hardware worldwide, and supported continued testing of Xona’s signal performance in real-world environments.

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According to the HydroGNSS team, these signals are received after reflecting off the Earth’s surface. By comparing the delayed, scattered reflections against the direct signals received straight from the navigation constellations, the onboard instruments derive critical hydrological variables. The mission targets key environmental indicators, including soil moisture, wetland inundation, freeze-thaw dynamics, and above-ground biomass.

The architecture represents a paradigm shift in cost-effective Earth observation, designed and built for ESA by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). The payloads build upon early GNSS-R concepts demonstrated on TechDemoSat-1 and NASA’s CYGNSS mission. However, HydroGNSS features advanced instruments capable of exploiting multiple GNSS constellations, multi-frequency signals, and dual-polarizations simultaneously.

This multi-constellation capability drastically improves spatial and temporal resolution. Notably, some of the Galileo satellites whose signals are reflected and used by HydroGNSS were also built by SSTL, highlighting a unique industrial synergy.

High-flying resolution

A key feature of the mission is its high-resolution coherent channel. This channel analyzes the phase behavior of the reflected GNSS signals to map surface water along satellite tracks at a sharp 300-meter resolution. When combined over time, data from the two HydroGNSS spacecraft build highly detailed global maps.

Initial data comparisons highlight the unique advantages of spaceborne GNSS-R over traditional active remote sensing. While active C-band radar instruments, such as those on the Sentinel-1 satellites, often struggle to penetrate dense forest canopies, the L-band signals utilized by HydroGNSS excel at subsurface and sub-canopy penetration. This allows the mission to detect hidden wetlands and flooded areas beneath heavy vegetation, providing critical data to refine global carbon cycle models.

Following rigorous validation, ESA has made all HydroGNSS data freely available to aid climate research. With commissioning complete, this mission transforms hydrological monitoring by delivering high-resolution insights into soil moisture and hidden wetlands. It proves agile, cost-effective small satellites can secure a resilient future for global water resource management.

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As global telecommunications networks, power grids, and data centers increasingly depend on ultra-precise timing, relying on a solitary GNSS reference exposes networks to risks like jamming, spoofing, and signal multipath. To build a resilient architecture, the Coherent Clock project introduced a distributed clock ensemble mechanism. Instead of treating receivers as isolated units, the system aggregates timing data from multiple geographically distributed GNSS nodes via fiber-optic networks to synthesize an optimized, secure global time solution.

The architecture utilizes Safran’s WR-Z16 LJ units, which combine embedded Septentrio Mosaic-T GNSS receivers with the IEEE 1588-2019 high accuracy precision time protocol, heavily based on White Rabbit (WR-PTP) technology. This mesh topology establishes a distributed network that removes any single grandmaster dependency, enabling seamless sub-nanosecond phase synchronization over metropolitan distances.

Rigorous testing and verification

Safran presented the final results of the project at a recent ESA-hosted event. Central to the platform is the distributed clock ensemble server (DiCES), which monitors node status and historical Kalman filter metrics through a dedicated representational state transfer application programming interface. DiCES computes real-time phase and frequency corrections, delivering them back to individual nodes to drive a local hardware ‘paper clock’ ensemble with sub-picosecond resolution.

The team executed verification campaigns using simulated rubidium clocks at Safran’s timing laboratory in Granada, Spain. They followed this with physical testing using multi-node configurations of real caesium and maser standards at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) UTC laboratory in Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Under benign baseline conditions, the synthesized ensemble demonstrated superior long-term stability compared to any single standalone reference clock. Crucially, when subjected to hostile test scenarios, including forced node power failure, 10-minute connector detachments, and emulated sub-nanosecond phase and frequency jumps, the Kalman-plus-weights algorithm instantly mitigated anomalies. The system isolated anomalous nodes by setting their algorithmic weight to zero without compromising aggregate network timing or output stability.

The successful demonstration concludes the project at technology readiness level 5. Looking forward, Safran plans to harden the technology, integrate absolute UTC-traceability testing, implement optimized steering, and deploy multi-site commercial pilots, to align fully with future 5G standards.

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FEI President and CEO Tom McClelland noted the order arrived roughly four months after the company’s initial lunar PNT contract, which FEI announced in March 2026 for $7 million, also for lunar PNT atomic clocks.

Part of a broader push into space PNT and alternative-PNT markets

McClelland framed the repeat order as evidence of FEI’s ability to scale space exploration business, and pointed to lunar PNT as one of several markets — alongside proliferated satellites, quantum sensing, space defense and alternative-PNT — that the company is targeting for growth built on its existing space and defense timing business.

The award follows a separate $18 million set of contracts FEI announced July 23, which included an $11 million award from an aerospace prime for a satellite frequency-generation system, plus roughly $7 million in follow-on production work for space oscillators and non-space government programs. It also follows FEI’s July 15 fourth-quarter and fiscal-year 2026 results, in which the company reported a $111 million funded backlog.

FEI’s Zyfer division supplies GPS and secure timing products; its Elcom Tech division makes electronic warfare and RF/microwave subsystems.

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A Multi-Year Realignment

The transfer is the culmination of a process that began Nov. 25, 2024, with the establishment of the MAR Joint Program Office to improve oversight and promote more efficient integration of PNT capability across the services. The Air Force and Space Force service acquisition executives approved a formal transfer plan on April 9, 2025, and acquisition authority for the MGUE programs moved to the Air Force on Dec. 1, 2025. An Air Force materiel leader took over responsibility for the programs at Los Angeles Air Force Base on Jan. 15, with the transfer itself completed under a transition support plan signed by then-AFLCMC commander Lt. Gen. Donna Shipton.

Throughout the handoff, the Space Force provided technical engineering expertise, administrative documentation, and personnel support intended to keep the transition from disrupting ongoing operations. Going forward, the Air Force will execute the MGUE programs as part of the broader GPS enterprise, while the Space Force retains responsibility for the ground and space segments — with both services describing plans to continue coordinating to preserve the integrity of the overall GPS enterprise.

“This means the M-Code Aviation Receivers Joint Program Office can take a life-cycle approach to developing and fielding GPS capability, ultimately making our forces more lethal on the battlefield,” said 1st Lt. Milton Bugg, MGUE Increment 2 program manager.

2nd Lt. Brookelyn Anderson, MGUE Increment 1 project manager at AFLCMC’s Electronic Systems Directorate, said the transfer more closely ties technology development to fielding PNT solutions for the joint warfighter.

What MGUE Delivers

MGUE Increment 1 and 2 represent significant upgrades to military GPS user equipment, intended to give warfighters more secure, accurate, and resilient PNT capability. Both increments feature advanced anti-jamming and anti-spoofing technology aimed at improving receiver performance in contested environments.

Consolidating the programs under the MAR Joint Program Office, officials say, is meant to help the Department of Defense better manage cost, schedule, performance, and risk while improving fielding and sustainment of the equipment.

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A deployable eLoran station enables quick replacement of PNT (Position, Navigation, and Timing) systems, such as GPS, that may be jammed or spoofed by hostile entities. Temporary, rapidly deployable eLoran systems, each with a collapsible/portable antenna, are much more difficult to jam and can help ensure mission success in a battlefield arena.

Modern military operations depend heavily on GNSS signals for troop movement, weapons guidance, and operational coordination — a dependency that has become a well-documented vulnerability. Adversaries can jam or spoof satellite navigation signals in contested environments, and when that interference goes undetected, the consequences can range from misdirected troop movements to mis-guided munitions.

eLoran has drawn renewed attention as a candidate to fill that gap. As a terrestrial, low-frequency radio navigation system built on the Loran-C lineage, it operates independently of satellite infrastructure and is markedly harder to disrupt than GNSS, since it relies on powerful ground-based transmitters rather than comparatively weak signals arriving from space. That resilience has made it a recurring subject of interest among defence and infrastructure planners looking to diversify away from single-point-of-failure PNT.

The concept NautelNav is supporting fits into that broader effort: a station compact and portable enough to be moved into a contested location on short notice, then torn down and relocated as operational needs shift — a capability distinct from the fixed, high-power Loran-C and eLoran transmitter sites that have historically anchored national PNT infrastructure.

Partnership and Technology

Nautel global partner UrsaNav® is teaming with QinetiQ, Roke, and GMV to develop the concept. At the heart of the demonstration system is a Nautel eLoran transmitter, a data-capable low frequency PNT transmitter. These transmitters are highly efficient, incorporating a patented pulse power recovery technique along with lightweight, hot-swappable, redundant power amplifiers.

“Our 5th and 6th generation solid-state Loran transmitters have successfully performed in operational systems around the world since the mid-1970’s,” said UrsaNav’s CEO, Charles Schue. “Since 2007, we have partnered with NautelNav in delivering 7th generation NL-series transmitters capable of broadcasting existing and advanced signals, waveforms, and modulation techniques. Pairing our provider and user technology with NautelNav’s NL-series transmitters provides the UK with foundational deployable eLoran capability.”

The four-company grouping — operating together as Team Elaris — is working under a UK Ministry of Defence contract awarded earlier this year to develop a deployable eLoran concept as part of the MoD’s Urgent Compass programme. The two-year effort is intended to inform later phases of demonstration, production, and eventual deployment, and extends QinetiQ’s existing engagement with the MoD on assured PNT, which also includes the separate Robust Global Navigation System programme.

The transmitter technology underpinning the demonstration draws on decades of operational history rather than a clean-sheet design. NautelNav’s solid-state Loran transmitters trace their lineage back to the mid-1970s, and the current NL-series line — developed jointly with UrsaNav since 2007 — has already been fielded in fixed eLoran installations in multiple countries.

What distinguishes the deployable concept is packaging: a collapsible, portable antenna paired with a transmitter built for rapid setup and teardown, rather than the large fixed towers associated with legacy Loran-C and eLoran sites. Combined with the hot-swappable, redundant power amplifiers already built into the NL-series design, the approach is meant to let defence users stand up a working PNT alternative in a contested area within a matter of hours rather than the months typically required to commission a fixed station.

If the concept moves forward from demonstration into procurement, the partners anticipate interest from multiple defence organizations beyond the UK, given the shared allied concern over GNSS jamming and spoofing in contested environments.

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