Delivering mission success and survivability for dismounted soldiers

Accurate and reliable situational awareness - of location, timing or target acquisition - is of mission-critical importance for dismounted soldiers, especially in the age of electronic warfare.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies have transformed the way that accurate position, navigation and timing (PNT) is provided - not just in combat zones but also across many areas of our everyday lives.

However, these systems rely on relatively weak signals from satellites orbiting at approximately 20,000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface which makes them vulnerable to cyber-attacks and increasingly sophisticated spoofing and jamming technologies.

While signal spoofing is carried out by malicious operators, jamming or interference isn’t always intentional. Unintentional interference can come from space weather effects, near band interference, signal obscuration and even personal “private” jammers.

In order to secure information dominance and gain strategic and tactical advantage on the battlefield, warfighters need PNT that is accurate, reliable and offers high levels of resilience to spoofing or jamming scenarios. It’s critical for effective Command and Control and ensures decision-making in highly volatile and dynamic conflict zones is always fully informed.

QinetiQ’s Q40 MicroPNT GNSS receiver is at the leading edge of this new generation of assured and resilient PNT capability.

Small and lightweight, it can be easily integrated in a wide range of sensors and dismounted soldier equipment – from weapon sights, range finders and night vision goggles to hand held surveillance, communication and location devices.

Acting as the PNT hub, it will distribute accurate information to all C5ISR systems typically worn by soldiers. The Q40 can be provided as a macromodule for integration into existing soldier system devices or as a wearable with STANAG connectors for interfacing with end user equipment.

There are a number of other benefits that the Q40 can provide, including:

• Tri-band architecture which enables multi constellation and multi signal GNSS tracking for high reliability and performance in challenging environments
• Interference mitigation, anti spoofing and RF cyber protections that enhance defences against spoofing and cyber threats. Controlled Radiation Pattern Antennas (CRPAs) can also be paired with Q40 to further increase resistance to jamming.
• Enhanced sensitivity which allows detection of very low strength signals, improving Time to First Fix (TTFF) and resilience in high interference environments (e.g. dense urban areas, forests)
• In service software updates to counter emerging threats
• Multi sensor integration (both conventional and AltNav sensors), with a broad set of interface protocols available for flexible application.

The Q40 means users can benefit from assured and resilient GNSS capabilities now without compromising the ability to integrate future technologies to address an ever-evolving threat environment.