Armada’s monthly round-up of all the latest electronic warfare news in the product, programme and operational domains.
SpectraLoc Demonstrated on AR3 EVO
Quadsat’s SpectraLoc signals intelligence payload has been successfully demonstrated onboard Tekever’s AR3 EVO Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV). A press release published by Quadsat said that the test “represents an important milestone in validating the interoperability between Quadsat’s technology and Tekever’s modular architecture”. The document continued that the SpectraLoc payload and the UAV were able to work together during the trial flights. SpectraLoc is designed to be platform agnostic and hence equip a disparate array of uninhabited platforms. The AR3 is already in service with the Royal Air Force where it is equipped with Leonardo’s StormShroud electronic attack payload. Quadsat told Armada the flight trials took place in Portugal. The integration of SpectraLoc is now being offered as a customer option onboard the AR3 EVO. Future plans for the SpectraLoc and AR3 EVO integration include offering the package to potential North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) customers wishing to enhance their electronic intelligence collection capabilities.
New Wearable GNSS Jammer Detector
In April GPSPatron unveiled its new GP-Probe Nano L1 wearable Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) jamming detection and logging device. Company literature says the GP-Probe Nano L1 can be used in either a standalone configuration or with a smartphone. When operating in detection mode, the GP-Probe Nano L1 provides 30 days of continuous operation on a single change. This duration can be extended for up to three months when the system is solely logging GNSS PNT disruption. By linking the GP-Probe Nano L1 to a smartphone using the Android operating system, the user can visualise real-time local PNT signal quality. The system can also localise sources of GNSS interference. The company told Armada, via a written statement, that the GP-Probe Nano L1 monitors Radio Frequency (RF) local power levels of the GNSS L1 1.563 gigahertz/GHz to 1.587GHz waveband. As PNT signals are very weak by the time they reach Earth, “even low power jammers cause a noticeable rise in RF noise” the statement continued. The GP-Probe Nano L1 has a detection range of 50 metres/m (164 feet/ft) if both the system, and the jammer, are located inside a vehicle. This increases to 200m (656ft) for a jammer producing power levels of circa five decibels-per-milliwatt. “For more powerful jammers detection distances can be much bigger”. The product has been adopted across a range of sectors including militaries, law enforcement, private security companies, critical national infrastructure and uninhabited aerial vehicle operators, GPSPatron added.
by Dr. Thomas Withington
