Special Report: Aquark Technologies sees UAV, PNT uses for next generation atomic clock

One of the two AQlock 2.0 cold atom-based atomic clocks inside a travel case used in a trial with Saab on 24 June 2026. (Aquark Technologies )

UK quantum systems company Aquark Technologies says the next iteration of its AQlock cold atom-based atomic clock will have an integrated network time protocol (NTP) server, removing the need for separate NTP-server hardware, the company has told Janes.

“We are capable of including the NTP server inside our clock,” Matthew Aldous, timing lead at Aquark Technologies, told Janes on 20 August 2026. The company's next iteration of its cold atom-based atomic clock may be referenced as AQlock 2.1 and will include photonic integrated circuits, ultra-high vacuum cells, and microfabrication. “It's in progress. We can't say much about it at this stage,” Aldous said.

June trial

A commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) NTP server was used during a June 2026 Aquark Technologies trial involving two AQlock 2.0 cold atom-based atomic clocks and Saab Giraffe 1X radars. Aquark and Saab said the radars generated a coherent air picture using the AQlock-derived timing. AQlock 2.0 provided a pulse-per-second signal, according to Aldous, and the NTP server then disseminated times across the rest of the network. “The server was connected to the AQlock and the radars were able to get the timing information from that over the network,” Aldous explained.