Infleqtion has announced availability of its first quantum-enabled precision timing solution delivered as part of the company’s partnership with Safran Electronics & Defense. The new solution includes Infleqtion’s Tiqker quantum optical clock, which has been integrated and validated with Safran’s White Rabbit and SecureSync systems.
Modern systems, from financial markets to military operations, telecom networks and datacenters, depend on technologies such as GPS or GNSS for precise timing, but these are vulnerable to jamming, spoofing, and natural disruption. As threats to traditional timing infrastructure grow, the need for resilient, independent alternatives has become critical.
In a recent live demonstration conducted in partnership with Quantum Corridor, the solution integrating Tiqker, White Rabbit and SecureSync system was validated in a real-world environment, demonstrating picosecond accuracy vs. nanosecond GPS accuracy.
The combined, validated solution delivers enhanced stability and resilience, ensuring continuity of operations for mission-critical systems even in environments where traditional timing signals are challenged or denied.
The collaboration between Infleqtion and Safran Electronics & Defense makes the validated solution available to customers globally, across allied defense, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure sectors, enabling rapid deployment of precision timing architectures designed to operate even in GNSS-challenged environments.
Safran Electronics & Defense and QinetiQ have entered a strategic partnership to deliver sovereign and resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. The collaboration addresses today’s urgent need for trusted PNT capabilities in increasingly challenging and GNSS-denied operational environments.
By integrating QinetiQ’s Q40 GNSS receiver with Safran’s SecureSync time server, the partnership offers advanced protection against jamming, spoofing and other adversarial electronic warfare threats. The joint solution supports multi-signal reception and delivers reliable, coherent synchronization for mission-critical military operations — from strategic headquarters to frontline forces.
The SecureSync time server. (Photo: Safran)
This next-generation, sovereign capability strengthens the UK’s operational advantage, ensuring continuous access to secure timing and navigation, even under electronic attack. The solution is designed to adapt and expand, accommodating future threats and supporting the full spectrum of defence operations.
“The Q40 provides navigational assurance in environments where jamming, spoofing and electronic attacks are ever-present,” said James Willis, chief executive UK Intelligence, QinetiQ. “By pairing it with Safran’s SecureSync, we are giving UK forces a trusted, sovereign solution that ensures precise timing and navigation data remains available when it matters most.”
The Q40 GNSS receiver. (Photo: Qinetiq)
“In the current context of evolving threats and contested environments, guaranteeing sovereignty in navigation and timing is more critical than ever for national defence,” added Maxime Gorlier, director of PNT Business Unit for Safran Electronics & Defense. “This partnership enables UK armed forces to maintain full independence and sovereignty, even when facing sophisticated electronic warfare tactics. Together, we are committed to providing future-proof PNT solutions that strengthen the UK’s resilience and strategic autonomy.”
The partnership leverages both companies’ sustained investment in customer-focused research, development and innovation, and demonstrates their shared commitment to providing robust, secure and resilient PNT solutions.
Orolia Defense & Security delivers M-code-enabled timing and synchronization to Lockheed Martin
In September 2019, Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to develop the U.S. Army’s Sentinel A4 radar system, an air and missile defense radar that will provide improved capability against dynamic threats.
The following November, Orolia Defense & Security announced the availability of M-code military GPS receivers in its flagship SecureSync — the first time server approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Orolia is supplying SecureSync units for Lockheed Martin’s Sentinel A4 radar. (Photo U.S. Army)
This May, Orolia delivered a shipment of M-code-enabled SecureSync mission timing and synchronization units to Lockheed Martin, marking a key milestone for the Army program. SecureSync with M-code provides enhanced resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities and improved resistance to existing and emerging GPS threats, such as jamming and spoofing.
Lockheed Martin selected Orolia’s SecureSync M-code as the A4 system’s resilient time and frequency reference solution in part due to its modular, open architecture – the same characteristics that are the cornerstone of the radar’s design – making integration a simple process and ensuring future upgrades.
“As a trusted Lockheed Martin partner, Orolia is proud to support the development of the Sentinel A4, which will be a key asset to our warfighters for decades to come,” said Hironori Sasaki, president of Orolia Defense & Security. “Making M-code available now in a readily configurable and scalable form factor is a critical step in advancing our forces out in the field, whether in the air or on the ground,” Sasaki added.
The next-generation of U.S. military systems are fortified with M-code, and Orolia leads the industry in M-code solutions for navigation warfare (NAVWAR) environments.
Orolia is supplying SecureSync units for Lockheed Martin’s Sentinel A4 radar. (Photo U.S. Army)
Orolia, through its Orolia Defense & Security business, announced in November 2020 the launch of M-code military GPS receivers in its line of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions.
The line includes M-code-enabled mobile mission timing and synchronization platforms, such as the SecureSync IDM resilient time and frequency reference solution, the first time server approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), and the Versa mobile PNT platform to meet rugged size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) requirements.
M-code is a military signal used in the L1 and L2 GPS bands. It is required by congressional mandate for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) military operations.
M-code is designed to enhance PNT capabilities and improved resistance to existing and emerging threats to GPS, such as jamming and spoofing. Operational benefits of M-code include:
a higher power signal that offers improved resistance to jamming and interference
advanced security features to prevent unauthorized access or exploitation
improved message formats and signal modulation techniques for faster and more accurate performance.
Orolia has long supported the DOD’s need for selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM)-enabled PNT equipment, explained Hironori Sasaki, president of Orolia Defense & Security. “This announcement emphasizes our move toward M-code and the availability of M-code in our products,” Sasaki said. “Our focus has always been on staying in sync with the DOD and providing the latest and greatest technologies.”
Orolia now supports M-code in all its user products and offers two capabilities: simulation and M-code-enabled end-user devices. “They will each have a different approval process for export,” Sasaki said. “We follow DOD guidance on getting that capability out there.”
SecureSync, which is SAASM-enabled, has been deployed with DOD for many years, so Orolia has “a very good install base” of these devices, according to Sasaki. “We are providing a very easy and seamless upgrade path to go from SAASM to M-code in that platform.” The company’s Versa platform consists of the VersaSync and the VersaPNT, both small form-factor PNT devices designed for rugged application in military vehicles or military aircraft.
DOD has given Orolia approval to advertise the fact that it has these capabilities in its products. “We are expecting shipments to start in early 2021,” said Sasaki. “So, we are well on our way in development, implementation and productization.”
“We have been focusing on providing products that have a modular architecture, both in software and hardware,” Sasaki added. “We are embracing this approach of open architecture and continue to support the DOD in providing different layers of sensing and PNT protection in a way that can be incorporated into future DOD systems.
“We have already demonstrated our ability to deliver PNT solutions in various form factors, so I think we are in a good position to continue pushing forward with that open architecture approach,” Sasaki said.
Flexible, resilient military PNT designed for every military environment
Orolia, through its Orolia Defense & Security business, has announced the availability of M-code military GPS receivers in its resilient PNT products and solutions, including M-code-enabled mobile mission timing and synchronization platforms.
M-code capabilities further enhance Orolia’s Versa mobile PNT platform for rugged, small SWaP-C requirements and Orolia’s flagship SecureSync resilient time and frequency reference solution — the first Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) approved time server.
M-code is a military signal used in the L1 and L2 GPS bands and is required by congressional mandate for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) military operations. It is designed to enhance positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities and improved resistance to existing and emerging GPS threats, such as jamming and spoofing.
M-code offers several operational benefits, including a higher power signal with improved resistance to jamming and interference; advanced security features to prevent unauthorized access or exploitation; and improved message formats and signal modulation techniques for faster and more accurate performance.
“As threats against GPS increase, military forces will need M-code capabilities on mobile PNT systems to ensure continuous operations wherever they go,” said Hironori Sasaki, president of Orolia Defense & Security. “Orolia is proud to continue to support Department of Defense initiatives to ensure that warfighters have the most secure, reliable and accurate positioning, timing and synchronization solutions in any environment.”
From resilient PNT solutions to GPS/GNSS simulation, interference detection and mitigation, Orolia provides end-to-end NAVWAR and resilient PNT solutions to protect, augment and strengthen military systems for GPS-denied environments.
The ROSS project, conducted in France by companies Marlink and SeaOwl, demonstrated the feasibility of autonomous shipping. Orolia systems ensured resilient PNT. (Photo: Marlink)
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued a resolution for maritime cyber-risk management, effective January 2021. IMO Resolution MSC.428(98) affirms that maritime operators need to address cyber threats that risk the integrity and availability of technology systems.
GPS/GNSS signal jamming and spoofing expose the vulnerabilities of PNT-reliant systems. The single point of failure in the signals used to synchronize military operations or determine a vessel’s location leaves maritime systems open to attack. With resilient PNT, maritime and naval vessels can rely on trusted data.
Remote Operations at Sea. In September, Orolia participated in a Remotely Operated Service at Sea (ROSS) demonstration where an unmanned vessel was tele-operated from more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) away.
With its SecureSync Interference Detection and Mitigation (IDM) suite, Orolia provided the project’s PNT cybersecurity package and delivered precise, reliable data for the control center to pilot the vessel from afar. The IDM suite includes GNSS threat detection and mitigation, as well as the option to include encrypted and alternative signals for use in GNSS-denied environments.
After this successful demonstration, SeaOwl Group, the company leading the ROSS project, obtained the first remotely operated vessel navigation license in France.
Diving Deep. Atomic clocks and oscillators are useful for underwater operations where RF signals are unavailable to provide accurate PNT data. Precision timing technologies, such as Orolia’s Spectratime mRO-50 oscillator, ensure stable timing for navigation systems through radar. They support missions such as:
stabilizing and synchronizing sensor measurement data collection for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)
providing holdover to maintain precise positioning on submarines during extended periods of GNSS signal denial
generating precise frequencies with low phase noise and less burden on radio receiver architecture, such as search-and-rescue control centers
operating with low power consumption and increasing the reliability of radio reception.
Resilient PNT is essential at sea, from military missions and commercial freight shipping to port management, search and rescue, research and fishing operations. Jamming and spoofing detection, threat mitigation, and alternative PNT sources configured in multiple layers of protection can ensure continuous operations, even in compromised environments. In shallow or deep-water environments, Orolia’s portfolio includes critical infrastructure support for naval command-and-control centers, essential GNSS vulnerability testing and services, and wearable solutions that fit in the palm of a hand.
By Jeremy Onyan, Director, TIme Sensitive Networks, Orolia
Cybersecurity is critical to all facets of the internet. Companies spend millions on cybersecurity every year. Still, often-overlooked areas degrade security. A key example of this is time.
Time plays an essential role in synchronizing core business and network systems. It supports authentication protocols as well as accurate log files critical for an audit trail — necessary for any cyber forensics program. As such, synchronization is often a requirement for network security standards.
A deployment of network time protocol (NTP) synchronizes a local system to a time server. The time source can come from within the network or outside of it.
NTP over the internet. NTP time servers are widely available on the internet. National authorities operate internet time servers based on extremely accurate atomic clocks, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or the U.S. Naval Observatory.
But even with these sources, many factors impact traceability. According to ntp.org, “If business, organization or human life depends on having correct time or can be harmed by it being wrong, you shouldn’t ‘just get it off the internet’.”
One problem with time synchronization is the variability of network conditions. Network load, variable path delays and firewall settings can impact time quality on the local system. To illustrate this effect, we can use the time-quality monitoring feature of a time server with a built-in GPS receiver as its reference that is accurate to tens of nanoseconds. NTP can be used to compare it to another GPS time server on a local area network. The offset is around 15-20 microseconds (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The comparison between two GPS time servers on the same LAN using NTP results in 15–20 microseconds offset. (Chart: Orolia)
We connected the SecureSync time server to some of the most popular internet time servers. The variation result, shown in Figure 2, is as high as tens of milliseconds — 1,000 times worse than NTP across a local area network. If we assume all the time servers are accurate, then the difference is solely due to greater path delay and other dynamic conditions. This variation is enough to question the traceability of time from the internet.
Figure 2. The comparison of internet time servers as measured by NTP on a local GPS time server. The scale is 1,000 times greater than in Figure 1. (Chart: Orolia)
The internet obscures time traceability. Perhaps more important for a security-critical network is the validity of the source used by the time server that distributes time to your network. Time from GPS/GNSS signals is recognized as the most accurate, available and traceable time source.
GPS/GNSS-based time servers are easy and simple appliances to add to the local network. Even when different GPS/GNSS time servers are deployed in different locations, they will provide the same time regardless of geography. What’s more, GPS/GNSS as a local time source can be monitored, so its logs can become part of the audit trail.
Of the seven internet time servers monitored over a 24-hour period, 20 different time sources were identified. Less than half of the sources could be identified as coming directly from GPS/GNSS. In one case, GPS/GNSS time was distributed through three different time servers.
The best practice of using NTP server pools is one reason why there are more sources than time servers. Server pools rotate among various internet time servers, each with their own source of time, to reduce the chance of one bad or unavailable time server catastrophically affecting the synchronization. But this is a problem for traceability. The source of time is not known, nor can it even be determined.
Indeterminate source identification, indeterminate accuracy variation and the inability to log the resulting time synchronization calls into question the efficacy of getting time from the internet. Internet time servers are also subject to being spoofed (bad NTP data sent from a faked IP address) and to direct attacks, including NTP poisoning, replay and denial of service.
When there is a business-critical need to trace time to an accurate source, a GPS/GNSS-based time server should be deployed on the local network.
Spectracom highlighted its new products for UAVs at the Association of Unmanned Vehicles International‘s Xpontential 2016 show, held May 2-5 in New Orleans. John Fischer, chief technology officer for Spectracom, focuses on the VersaSync time server, derived from the company’s ground-based SecureSync time server, and its GNSS vulnerability test system.
