GPS World

Tag: GNSS vulnerabilities

  • Safran acquires Syntony to strengthen position in resilient PNT market

    Safran Electronics & Defense has acquired Syntony GNSS, a simulator and receiver company founded in 2015 in Toulouse, France. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Safron’s resilient PNT innovations.

    In 2023, Safran acquired Orolia, also for its GNSS and PNT expertise.

    Under the agreement, signed Feb. 13, Safran will take 100% of Syntony’s share capital, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed.

    A European leader in GNSS solutions for underground environments, Syntony has developed unique expertise to ensure reliable positioning in contexts where satellite signals are unavailable.

    Syntony’s technology addresses a major challenge of satellite navigation systems: the vulnerability of GNSS signals to physical obstacles, jamming and interference. To tackle this, Syntony has developed several critical technologies, including:

    • Controlled reception pattern antennas (CRPAs) that make GNSS receivers less sensitive to jamming and spoofing — essential for flight safety and the protection of sensitive infrastructure.
    • Software-defined radio (SDR), a digital radio that can change function (switching from FM to Wi-Fi or GPS) through a simple software update without changing hardware, allowing it to adapt to threats or to changes in received or transmitted signals. It offers compactness and scalability, particularly suited to embedded systems and the requirements of modern operational environments.

    In addition, Syntony develops GNSS receivers for next-generation satellites, particularly for low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations, further strengthening Safran Electronics & Defense’s offering in the space-based PNT and New Space sectors.

    Syntony employs nearly 70 people across Toulouse and Paris.

    For Safran Electronics & Defense, this acquisition makes it possible to offer more comprehensive equipment that is also more compact and energy-efficient, while remaining adaptable to the constant evolution of signals. These gains in weight and power consumption are essential for future civilian and military platforms (drones and counter-drone systems, missiles, aircraft and low-orbit satellites).

  • Spirent Partners with Nottingham Scientific for Robust PNT

    Spirent Partners with Nottingham Scientific for Robust PNT

    Spirent Communications has entered into a strategic partnership with Nottingham Scientific Limited (NSL) to enable the detection, characterization and regeneration of threats to GNSS receiver systems.

    NSL is one of the companies in Europe involved in satellite navigation, specializing in developing reliable and robust GNSS technologies for a variety of applications, such as those that impact safety or are critical in terms of business, finance and security. NSL has carried out many successful GNSS research programs within the UK and internationally for government organizations, regulators and policy makers, Spirent said.

    Martin Foulger (left), general manager at Spirent Communications, meets with Mark Dumville, general Manager of NSL, at NSL's headquarters in Nottingham, UK. (Photo: Spirent)
    Martin Foulger (left), general manager at Spirent Communications, meets with Mark Dumville, general Manager of NSL, at NSL’s headquarters in Nottingham, UK. (Photo: Spirent)

    The combination of NSL’s acknowledged expertise in the research of GNSS vulnerabilities with Spirent’s leadership in GNSS simulation and test development enables the provision of a range of planned robust positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions.

    “Threats to GNSS and related PNT applications are becoming more orchestrated and coordinated, with the motivation to disrupt or cause financial loss becoming the driving factor,” said John Pottle, marketing director at Spirent’s Positioning division. “Real-world threats are wide-ranging and affect navigation and timing system performance differently. Our partnership with NSL enables not only detection, but also regeneration, of real threats in the lab. This allows users to understand which threats are most relevant to them, and informs decisions on improving robustness.”

    “NSL and Spirent share a vision that building robust position, navigation and timing systems is enabled through evaluating system performance against a real threats baseline” Mark Dumville, general manager at Nottingham Scientific Ltd, said. “By auditing system performance, decisions on how to improve resilience can be based on facts, not guesswork.”