Britain has achieved a world-first with a series of test flights that show the key technologies of a future quantum navigation system meant to counter one of the most potentially dangerous, yet little discussed, dangers to transportation: GPS jamming and spoofing.
The Threat of GPS Spoofing
GPS has become such an integral part of our lives, with several applications, that it's easy to take them for granted- that is until you drive into a steep mountain valley or densely wooded forest and lose your satellite signal. That can be quite unsettling as the fuel indicator hangs around empty and you have no idea where the next gas station is.
Quantum Navigation
It's worse for ships and aircraft, as they confront not just the danger of an unintentional signal failure, but also active jamming and spoofing. Jamming GPS is the same as jamming radio or radar. It's merely sending a strong transmission that may overpower and drown out the GPS signal. Spoofing, on the other hand, poses a much greater risk. This entails sending out misleading signals to trick a GPS device into thinking it is somewhere else and moving in the wrong direction.
Quantum Navigation in Action
This seems like something from a Bond film, but it's a very real and prevalent threat. As per the European Business Aircraft Association, 49,605 civilian aircraft were the victims of spoofing in 2022 alone, most of which occurred near conflict zones where spoofing is used to misdirect enemy warplanes and drones, though such incidents can occur anywhere.
Once fooled, the crew members become occupied. They lose awareness of the situation. They now have a significantly increased workload as they deal with the situation. It is important to realize that spoofing isn't just about confounding an aircraft crew; air traffic controllers who rely on the aircraft's transponder (which is now incorrect) may also be affected and may be of little service when contacted for location confirmation.
Challenges and Progress
One approach to combat this is to use backup navigation, such as an inertial guiding system. This is effectively an electronic version of dead reckoning, and submarines all over the world employ gyrocompasses and accelerometers to automatically determine the boat's course and position to measure how it turns and accelerates along all three axes.
Applications Beyond Navigation
One approach to combat this is to use backup navigation, such as an inertial guiding system. This is effectively an electronic version of dead reckoning, and submarines all over the world employ gyrocompasses and accelerometers to automatically determine the boat's course and position to measure how it turns and accelerates along all three axes.
If you have a good navigational fix, it's a precious tool, but it's restricted since inaccuracies will creep into the system over time, accumulating and reinforcing one another, perhaps causing the readings to be wrong by miles. This is why submarines must periodically come near to the surface to obtain a new GPS position.
