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What’s New: A demonstration of quantum navigation in an aircraft.
Why It’s Important: Many believe it is impossible to deny or manipulate a quantum nav system from outside the platform it is being used on. At a minimum, it seems like doing so would be very difficult. Making attacking navigation difficult could be enough to cause malicious actors to look elsewhere for victims’ vulnerabilities and leave navigation alone.
What Else to Know:
- This is an important first step. There is still a lot of work to do if this is to be an easily adoptable and widely adopted capability.
- SWAP-C will be crucial:
- Size,
- Weight and
- Power –
- Cost
- The UK government has a very aggressive quantum research and development program.
A UK aircraft has tested ground-breaking quantum technology that could pave the way for an unjammable back-up for GPS navigation systems.
The government, which helped fund the research, said it was the first test of its kind to be publicly acknowledged.
While GPS is satellite-based, the new system is quantum-based – a term used to describe tech that is reliant on the properties of matter at very small scales.
Science minister Andrew Griffith said the test flights were “further proof of the UK as one of the world leaders on quantum”.
