The United Kingdom has issued a market exploration document for alternative navigation for weapon systems to support GNSS.
Specifically, UK Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) want to understand the range of technologies used for commercial positioning and navigation systems. Its main area of interest is to know the location of the weapon during the mid-course phase of deployment, as shown in the figure below, with an accuracy of ±5 meters. Technology guidance to the final target is not part of the scope.
With GNSS vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, the exploration is interested in supporting navigation and positioning technologies, such as:
- Terrain contour matching (TERCOM): uses a radar altimeter and a digital terrain elevation database.
- Digital scene matching (DSMAC): matches an onboard image to an imagery database.
- Inertial navigation systems (INS) or inertial measurement units (IMU): rely on accurate measurements of velocity and time to calculate position.
The market exploration is part of a larger Technology Demonstration Program. The defense agencies recently ran an Innovation Focus Area looking at quantum navigation systems, and selected several proposals for funding.
Quantum technology is not specifically out of scope for this exploration, but the agencies are specifically looking for technologies that could be developed to a testing and trialling prototype within the next three years.
For more information, see the document webpage.
