Zephr.xyz, a provider of augmented position, navigation, and timing (AugPNT) technologies, has been awarded a $1.74 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct-to-Phase II contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop real-time detection of GNSS jamming and spoofing in contested domains while geolocating the sources of these attacks.
As part of the program, Zephr.xyz’s dual-use “networked GNSS” technology – which turns ordinary mobile phones into a high-fidelity GNSS receiver network – will undergo rigorous field testing in Ukraine and multiple U.S. military exercises before integration with the Department of Defense’s Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Team Awareness Kit (TAK).
“We are excited to work with AFRL to equip warfighters and civilian agencies with real-time signal detection capabilities for jamming and spoofing while also determining the locations of these emitters so that countermeasures can be taken,” said Sean Gorman, PhD, CEO of Zephr.xyz. “With GNSS interference becoming a persistent threat in modern conflicts, having a scalable, mobile-based solution that delivers rapid, high-fidelity detection and geolocation is a game-changer. This technology will enable frontline forces to maintain situational awareness in contested environments and provide a critical tool for defending both military and civilian infrastructure against electronic warfare threats.”
A Critical Challenge in an Increasingly Contested World
As geopolitical conflicts intensify, GNSS interference poses a severe risk to battlefield situational awareness, force protection and national security. It also threatens civilian infrastructure, with the potential to disrupt commercial aviation, maritime navigation, medevac operations and financial systems.
Current methods for detecting jamming, spoofing and the sources of these attacks are often ineffective. Zephr.xyz’s field research in active conflict zones in Ukraine and Israel has demonstrated that many GNSS interference detection and localization techniques – while widely cited in the literature – fail in real-world battlefield conditions. For instance, Russia’s high-powered wideband jammers in Ukraine have made time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA) techniques difficult to implement. By jamming all frequency bands, they not only disrupt timing information for TDoA but can also saturate nearby receivers. Even outside combat zones, lower-grade adversary tactics can overwhelm conventional monitoring systems due to insufficient sensor coverage and technical limitations. These shortcomings lead to low-fidelity results and significant gaps in the “areas of effect.”
Delivering a Battlefield-Ready Solution
Zephr.xyz is addressing these challenges with a customized solution for real-time detection, classification and localization of signals of interest (SoI) and signals of opportunity (SoOPs). Since early 2024, the company has conducted extensive field testing and research in Ukraine and Israel to analyze evolving GNSS interference tactics.
Its advanced software suite leverages widely distributed mobile devices to create a decentralized sensor network. By collecting raw GNSS measurements – such as carrier-to-noise ratio – Zephr.xyz can identify key indicators of electronic attacks. These insights are processed in a mobile client-server environment, enabling real-time detection and classification, a capability that is critical for military operations. Additionally, Zephr.xyz’s technology can geolocate the source of an attack using sophisticated signal processing techniques.
Beyond detection, Zephr.xyz has the ability to enhance positioning accuracy on TAK devices, providing critical support for various operational scenarios. By deploying a cooperative positioning system that integrates GNSS measurements from multiple devices with Position, Velocity, Attitude and Timing (PVAT) data, Zephr.xyz strengthens both resilience and accuracy in contested environments.
Zephr.xyz’s detection and classification capabilities will be available as an SDK, allowing mobile applications like TAK to alert users and enhance positioning accuracy in electronic warfare scenarios.
