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UK MoD could use quantum clock to help counter UAV swarms, says trial partner

By Tamara Rozouvan |

An image of the UK MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory's prototype quantum atomic clock, released on 6 January 2025. (Crown Copyright)

The United Kingdom's first quantum atomic clock programme could help make missile guidance more accurate and help counter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms, Infleqtion UK, a company that helped develop it, told Janes on 14 January.

Max Perez, vice-president of strategic initiatives at Infleqtion, said that the current version of Tiqker, as the clock is known, will “likely be used in remote radar-based positioning, tracking, and targeting applications”. The current prototype will also be used for identifying, tracking, and targeting one-way attack (OWA) UAVs and UAV swarms.

A future version of the quantum clock, which is currently under development, could be deployed in the onboard guidance systems of kinetic weapons such as guided missiles, Perez added.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on 2 January that the UK-built quantum atomic clock will be “deployable in the next five years”.

Prototypes are now being produced for MoD customers who are interested in exploring the new capability, said Perez. Quantum clocks like Tiqker will be key for navigation systems that are operating in global navigation satellite services (GNSS)-denied environments, by using radio frequency (RF) transmission from fixed beacons. This has similarities with the deployable enhanced long-range navigation (eLoran) technology the MoD has been exploring, aiming to create alternative position, navigation, and timing (Alt PNT) in the event of GNSS denial.

eLoran

eLoran is a positioning system that uses a network of ground-based transmitters operating within the 90–110 kHz low-frequency band. “For assured PNT, both capabilities [eLoran and atomic clocks] are valuable and depend on the particular scenario,” Perez told Janes

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